Is this the life?
Is this the life well chosen
Meticulously planned
In bullet points from nine to five
Will the poem scan?
Is it trimmed like city hedge
Or rampant gypsy rose
Will it trot with dressage steps
Clip one clip two clip three
Or scent the wind and toss the mane
Hang the humdrum take the leap
Swop daily bread for hyacinths
Risk all for fragile dreams
Is this the life well chosen
Prosaic or free verse
To feed the soul while belly groans
A poet in a garret bathed
In light from distant stars?
Is this the life well chosen
Meticulously planned
In bullet points from nine to five
Will the poem scan?
Is it trimmed like city hedge
Or rampant gypsy rose
Will it trot with dressage steps
Clip one clip two clip three
Or scent the wind and toss the mane
Hang the humdrum take the leap
Swop daily bread for hyacinths
Risk all for fragile dreams
Is this the life well chosen
Prosaic or free verse
To feed the soul while belly groans
A poet in a garret bathed
In light from distant stars?
March 4th 2010, Hounoux, for Jenny G, who gave me the line, with love
Oh Sally! You have taken my breath away! Thank you so much; this is really precious. What's more, it expresses something that I want to say in my sermon on Sunday. So bless you. I shall have your whole poem put on a powerpoint for the congregation to enjoy!
ReplyDeleteBless you for that Jenny. I'd love you to tell me more about what you plan to say, if you can. As you know you gave me the quote about the hyacinths, and then I had been watching lots of silly rubbish on television where people swopped their daily lives and took a leap into a new country, or into a rural creative existence after the routine of life in the city. I wrote this at 1p.m and just felt I couldn't go to sleep until I had it down. Genuinely I am still asking the question, I think.
ReplyDelete