Elderly relatives can be a bit scary by a little girl who’s wiser than she first appears.
My Great Aunt is rich.
She wears a black hat
’Cos she’s really a witch.
She’s got a black cat.
She wears a black hat
When she asks me to tea.
She’s got a black cat.
That stares straight at me.
When she asks me to tea
With her beady glass eye
That stares straight at me,
I don’t dare to cry.
With her beady glass eye
(’Cos she’s really a witch)
I don’t dare to cry:
My Great Aunt is rich.
A pantoum by Jamie Jenkyn 2020
MORALITY
Why can’t I just do what I want, mummy?
Now, what am I to tell this little one,
His eyes wide blue, his face a guiltless grin?
Is innocent enjoyment such a sin?
I will not be the one to spoil his fun.
Am I to say that God forbids his play?
“He sent His laws since mankind is too proud,
And what you want to do is not allowed.”
How can we know what God wants anyway?
Or should I say: “Think not of your own bliss!
Let others’ happiness become your goal
And feel their joy illuminate your soul!”
But does their pleasure mean much more than his?
“Keep this in mind in everything you do,
That no man’s act is felt by him alone;
For all your harmful deeds you must atone
And those you damage will remember you.”
Jamie Jenkyn 2009
IN THEM WE TRUST
In the crowded city street,
Traffic trundling, pedestrians prattling,
I spied a woman, walking
BACKWARDS.
Her eyes were darting, wide,
All seeing, all understanding
Taking in everything she
HAD PASSED
Two youthful helpers held each hand.
They pushed her left, they pulled her right,
Tugged for whoa and whipped for go, like
GUIDE DOGS.
An inefficient navigation system!
There were crashes and collisions,
Stumbles and staggers, but, all the same, some
PROGRESS
In search of an explanation,
I grabbed an erudite passer-by
and was told she was a
POLITICIAN.