Early Works - Maurice Poem by David Harris

The devil’s lady flames have lit
the IRA have bombed the manuscript
never mind there is no relaxation
this time it might get to Glenda Jackson.
A week gone by far away
here comes the Cadbury kid with his Milk Tray.
He is ready for dangers to face,
some more literary grace.

Comedy in an inert expression
there is no regression
Maurice sits in solemn pose
pondering in degrees I suppose
conscious of all repetition
inherited in the pieces at their presentation,
criticism is slight,
but a meaningful insight.

So here, I sit in deep dispose
trying to write poetry and no prose.
Maurice sits in elevation
listening to my deviations,
the adventures of a bar of soap
oh, my is there any hope.
Regression, repetition, inhabitation
is there any compensation.

The sweet bird of youth
from heaven will fly
words of solemn prose
an ode to a dying rose.
No laughter as began the page
only silent rage.
This poem was only for fun
so no harm done.

Date unknown, probably 1979.

Author’s Note:

This was written as a bit of fun for my tutor, mentor and friend Maurice Callard. The Devil’s Lady was a play he wrote and sent it to a London Agent. During an IRA bombing campaign in London, the Agent’s office was destroyed along with Maurice’s manuscript of the play. He had written it with the actress Glenda Jackson in mind to play the Devil’s Lady. However, I do not think she ever got to read it. How many copies of the manuscript still exist I do not know, but I have one. With the Cadbury Kid, it was a bit of fun Maurice wrote to amuse us in his class.
With reference to my own work in the last stanza ode to a dying rose it relates to a poem posted up here called A Rose With A Tinted Past.