TWIN SPIRITS
Where the otter swam
with the mermaid and merman,
the trout leapt, the salmon too...
where the dam
had not been a dam
and on his pipes old Pan blew,
and blew like the breeze
through the flowers and trees
his tunes, timeless and true,
which brought centaurs to their knees,
there to swat among the fairies
while on the backs of swallows other fairies flew,
and danced the fauns
by the unicorns
and the nymphs sang. But only the sun now shines through.
It is here, my love,
like the turtle dove,
that we bill and coo.
Yes here, my love,
I the hand to your glove,
where the petals, the leaves, in the glistening dew
stick to our skins,
and we are spirit twins
who roll like the river
once used to.
A WOMAN WATCHES IN THE WOOD
Nor the dipper-bird in its diving
beneath the viaduct by the waterfall,
nor the force of the river in its driving
towards the sea and the sea's call,
nor the lilac that bends in the breeze
farther down at Rushpool Hall,
nor the squirrel that skips in the trees
or the hedgehog in its prickly ball
know the heart of the watchful girl
dives, drives, bends, skips and curls.
WAS A NOBODY ?
They call the man a has-been,
but it does not bother him because,
it is so much better to have been,
than to be a body who never-was.
WHAT SAW A BUTLER
Milady in the raw
was what the butler saw,
the nude chauffeur on his knees.
The cook - if you please -
he spied just as clear
where she swung from the chandelier.
Her ladyship cracked her crop
and his lordship would not stop
as he hurried round a track
with a saddle on his very-back.
He would have joined his employer
were the butler not a voyeur.
Now as a storyteller
his book is a best-seller.
A PLUME FOR MY PRINCESS
Perhaps she'll puff with peacock pride
for the prize of the pretty plume -
blue and green as is the sea,
bronze like the sun, gold like the moon,
Hera-honoured and Argus-eyed -
goes to she, yes goes to she,
the girl who brings colour to the room.
GO GOBLIN
There came a curious creature,
a spurious sort of sprite,
who rode on the back of a minute mare
whom he was heard to call Night.
His lies were far from thin,
indeed his fables were fat,
and the horrid little man kept pulling
the tail of the girl's pet cat.
"You are such a cruel creature,"
the young princess said,
"for so small a being
you have a very big head.
You dare to spin tall stories,
weave for me enormous lies,
would even have my cat believe
you are really giant-size.
Were I not fast asleep
I would call my father's guard
to come in and bang your head,
to come in and bang it hard.
But I know I must be dreaming
and that you are just not there,
so begone now, little man,
on Night, your tiny mare."
THE DRINK LONG AND COOL
The
man
stands
tall
and
quiet
so
the
good-
looking
girl
might
think...
he'd
quench
her
thirst
like
a
cool
and
long
drink.
BY THE THREAD A WORLD HANG
Hang
the
world
by
a
fine
thread
because
we've
a
conker
for
a
head.
SET SAIL FOR NOWHERE
Where venture I the voyager
while the wyvern flies
and breath-blows my boat-sails
as sparkle the night's many eyes ?
More eyes than heads the hydra,
more eyes than limbs the octopus,
so the night looks down on me
and the dragon blows me thus,
as I journey from this island
I compare to a giant whale
that falls in a deep slumber
and sleeps too its tail,
and so starts to sink
beneath the waves of the sea.
I sail for a far-off world
of myth, of fancy, of fantasy.
(A wyvern is a type of dragon.
Whales are said to only half-sleep,
their fin-tails still active)
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