Martin The Menace… Poem by Margaret Alice

Said he to Nici, tongue-in-cheek,
ask your teacher if I may come into
class to help you with this task, Dad!
came her mock reply of shock, said
he to me, come and taste the new ice-
cream I made myself - it is delicious -

Heard the cat screeching, he is leaving
her with the dogs, see a dog twitching, he
is teasing Ratau the old by feeding Junior
all the bits of meat, hear pages turning
furiously, he is looking up where we
should go for a Western Cape

Flower show, he’s bursting with energy,
hear bloodcurdling cries and hysterical
sighs, he is watching sports, despair
about all our sports is killing him, but
he gets up with a smile - Now it is so
bad, I’ve become resigned

To failing everything on the grounds of
political prescriptions - never still, never
resigned to anything for long, always
planning another coup, a new scheme,
Martin the Menace…