tags: poems


Fatherhood

Mummy, why is Daddy still on fire?
He isn't screaming anymore, perhaps he isn't having fun -
I will pour more petrol on him, that will wake him up again!

Mummy, why is Daddy going blue?
I tied the knots all nice and tight, he kicked his legs about a bit -
I will kick the chair away, that will do the trick!

Mummy, why is Daddy's blood so slow?
It gushed and spurted out at first, but now there's just a trickle -
I will put the knife back in, and see if any more comes out!

Mummy, why is Daddy on the floor?
I put the strychnine in his dinner, hoping it would taste all nice -
I will fill his mouth with arsenic, that will get him up again!

Mummy, why is Daddy underwater?
I tied the breeze-blocks to his wrists, thinking it would help him swim -
I will drop some concrete on him, that will make him float!

Mummy, why is Daddy banging on the door?
I locked the tiger in his room, so that he could play with it -
I will put the leopard in too, then they will have fun together!






The Splendid Pudding

Arthur Schnitzel made a pudding,
Made it in a pudding tin,
He inserted lots of raisins,
And put many almonds in.

In went cream, and nuts, and treacle,
In went tubs of fromage frais,
In went handfuls of confetti,
Onions, beef, a bit of hay,

Arthurs stirred in shredded suet,
Poured in milk and oil and brine,
Mixed in half a pound of dripping,
Added just a twist of lime,

Sifted flour and also talcum,
Stirred it with a DM boot,
Sixteen eggs, a splash of sherry,
Sausage meat and beans and soot,

Slices of potassium sorbate,
There to add a touch of class,
Then to make the pudding crunchy,
In went crisps and powdered glass,

Grinning, Arthur milked a pigeon,
Used its lactate to add spice,
Ladled in a long-dead chipmunk,
Sprinkled over powdered lice,

Baked his pudding for an hour,
Then another, then some more,
Two days later, Arthur's oven,
Billowed smoke under the door.

Arthur Schnitzel took his spoon out,
Viewed the pudding he had sired,
Arthur Schnitzel ate a mouthful,
Smiled and belched, looked shocked, expired.

If you seek this story's moral,
It is obvious to see:
Do not make a splendid pudding,
When you lack a recipe.






Jelly

Do not touch the jelly!
Its wobbly goodness must not be sullied
By your insouciant prodding.

Do not touch the jelly!
You might have got away with that
With a blancmange.

Do not touch the jelly!
Better men than you have died
Assailing its quivering buttresses.

Do not touch the jelly!
Were I ten years younger, I would crush your fingers
Mangling them betwixt my teaspoons.

Do not touch the jelly!
Though it looks bejeweled and dazzling
It is not so transparent as you think.

Do not touch the jelly!
The gelatinous, glistening glory-pudding
Is no man's plaything.

Do not touch the jelly!
A child's curiosity is charming
But screaming results.

Do not touch the jelly!
Beneath the trembling surface
Dark foreboding resides.

Do not touch the jelly!
Though delectable to the eye
Digits will suffer its wrath.

DO NOT TOUCH THE JELLY!

Warned, you were, with many forbiddings.
Now, with anguished cries, you know the truth.
Without your questing fingers, how indeed,
Will you touch future desserts?






The Solitary Dream of Orson Spink

Orson Spink was fond of soup, his blistered feet were disparate, no one knew his hat-size and his beef was made of ungulate.

Beyond the chasms of the Moon, young Orson preened his onion-tin, his catastrophic pilchards made a hole to hide his hairpiece in.

Milk from his preposterous teats descended slowly to his knees, his navel filled with lactate which became a slow and pungent cheese.

A burning sun of lamp-like heat blazed down upon poor Orson's scalp, a hat he wove in Basingstoke could not exclude the photons out.

Upon his langorous Chesterfield his scabrous bulk was slowly tanned, imperishable orchids danced a tango in his fiery hand.

An avocet of timely mien was gallivanting in the ash, it rose upon young Orson's chin and acted like a small moustache.

Denied a golden tricycle the avocet was much dismayed, it leaned upon the quivering lip and softly smelled of marmalade.

An orange-blossom acrid scent pervaded Orson's weary snout, his olfactory senses told him toast was somewhere hereabouts.

Descending from his Chesterfield our hero whines and casts around for edible comestibles which may have fallen to the ground.

His wobbling anterior dislodged a chunk of navel cheese, whose friable aroma caused the avocet to cough and wheeze.

The opulent fromage was incandescent on the sun-bleached floor, and burned a small and potent hole through which it sank a little more.

The pilchards were as envious as curtain-twitchers stuck inside, and whirled the Spink-boy's toupee from the place it was supposed to hide.

Squealing in it's mincing flight, the wig was crazed and filled with dread, it instantly sought sanctuary upon the top of Orson's head.

The sunbeams sought in vain thereafter for the balding Orson-pate, and once denied a victim the all-scorching heat would soon abate.

Orson Spink found not the toast for which his chubby fingers sought, and slowly clasped his onion-tin, regained his seat, and sat and thought.

He ponders on his sofa, pendulous, his eyelids start to droop, and Orson Spink drifts off to sleep, and snores a bit, and dreams of soup.






The Shrew Who Wanted To Be A Doctor

There once was a shrew,
Who, having little better to do,
Decided to pursue,
A career in medicine.

Being unable to cram,
For all of the exams,
He hatched a plan,
Both cunning and devious.

To emulate his betters,
And escape his social fetters,
He placed after his name the letters,
"M.D."

The fact is,
He set up a fake practice,
And hired an actress,
To play his receptionist.

Now set up,
In his medical get-up,
The shrew didn't let up,
But began a marketing campaign.

He placed an ad,
In his local rag,
Saying,"You'll be glad,
"You visited Dr. Shrew!"

The shrew was in his office,
Drinking the most recent of several coffees,
And anticipating his profits,
When in walked a patient.

Who said, "Doctor, I'm impotent,
"When I... hang on a moment!
"Aren't you some kind of rodent?"
The shrew had been found out.

Crying, "Oh no! A shrew!"
The patient hastily withdrew,
Causing something of a to-do,
In the waiting room.

He rapidly opined,
That those waiting had been blind,
Causing them to become inclined,
To violence, and aggressive acts.

The mob were less than gracious,
In fact they were somewhat pugnacious,
Shouting, "Get out here and face us!
"You nasty little animal!"

The shrew, his plans in disarray,
Found it rather imprudent to stay,
So he quickly sought a way,
To escape the situation.

Alas, the room was sealed!
His plot was now revealed,
So he prepared to field,
The inevitable barrage of questions and accusations.

The mob gave him no quarter,
"Little bastard! Why we oughta,
"Truss him up and have him slaughtered!"
Dr Shew was rapidly stamped to death.

To prevent this verse continuing ad nauseum,
The shrew was stuffed and placed in Bristol Museum,
Where, to this day, you can see him,
Just to the left of the capybara.