Uncle John Poem by David Lewis Paget

My Uncle John was a woebegone
In the all out way of things,
Wherever he went, no sun had shone
And we all were ding-a-lings.

He had no time for the hoi poloi
Or women who rant and tweet,
He'd pick on their saddest attributes
When he said they had ugly feet.

But those that he hated most were men
With money, and stick-out ears,
He said they could overhear him when
He whispered to privateers.

When I was a boy, I looked for joy
But he only gave me grief,
He'd say a bloke with a silly joke
Was simply a petty thief.

He'd never praise original thought
He'd say that it sounded dumb,
His wife Elaine said he'd still complain
As long as he sat on his bum.

She once cooked him a glorious meal
He muttered, and spat it out,
So Aunt Elaine said, ‘it's such a shame,
I thought it might give him gout.'

I have to tell it was just as well,
He came to a terrible end,
He fell right back with a heart attack
When somebody called him ‘friend.'

We planted a bed of chrysanthemums
On his plot in the cemetery,
It gives him something to bitch about
When the cats go there to pee.

24 November 2017