Arriving for his father’s funeral hatless
Edward landed, looking far from square,
said Betjeman. Though I am rarely catless,
my head, like Edward’s, is quite often bare.
...
Once you’ve succeeded in a task
do not try to repeat it;
hot water in a vacuum flask
should never be reheated,
...
Keep your eye upon the clues:
the words unconsciously you drop
provide the where’s and why’s and who’s
that lie beneath, above the top.
...
Words that, frozen to the skull,
I try to thaw, and start to mull
before I slide into a slumber,
I find in sleep, a lot less dumber
...
Her pen she would caress and fondle
while most particular
that after straight lines, horizontal,
came perpendicular.
...
Eve and Adam first got dressed
seventy thousand years ago,
when the louse, a pesky pest,
clung to clothes that made a beau
...
In search of cocktails that are varnished
modern nomads wander through the hotel lobbies;
expense accounts are rarely garnished
while in the bar oases they indulge their hobbies,
...
When, as a shepherd, Moses turned,
recovering a straying lamb,
...
Nevaeh is a name that’s found
a lot of favor, now competing
with those with a more common sound,
although not Sara yet defeating.
...
My second choice is being funny,
my first is being sweet,
if not as treacle or as honey
at least as sugar beet,
...