SleepyWitch
03-13-2006, 06:32 AM
aaaaargh, here it is again, that lurch in the stomach that I get before posting a poem.. do i really wanna post it? it sounded so good when i wrote it down, but when i read it now it looks like a big mess... :'( anyone else ever feel that way?
ok, here goes. please criticize. thanks for reading it :)
it's basically 'about' some intellectuals at dinner *****ing about their colleagues from another department (just in case I'm being enigmatic once more...) well, it's not really 'about' that anyway...
The Jester King at Dinner
Look how my helpless Lord basks in attention,
first among equals at an Italian restaurant.
Gulping his wine in hasty swigs,
he expertly weaves threads of conversation
across the table to and fro
from the honoured guest to my Lord's underlings
everyone gets their own show tonight
from subtle theories to postage stamps
every topic gets its due
Bright-eyed with rapt excitement
I listen as he unfolds once more
an epic of everyday events
while his patient comrade serenely smiles
and feigns indulgence at the repetition
pleasantly we warble on of this and that and such
until he hits upon our rival-friends,
those would-be scholars, pretenders to our funds,
the butt of all our jokes.
And each in turn derides them with more scorn
with sharper wit each would outshine the other.
All four agreeing and competing with the other three ,
we power on the whirling train of puns
pushing merrily towards exhaustion.
Forgot the honoured guest,
the world that looms beyond our circle,
what is amiss with our teaching as with theirs.
Wrapping each other in shared words,
still our snarls bite back at those who straggle.
Now at my wit's end, I catch the gentle sober glance
of one lower and yet wiser than my Lord.
Oh, could I quit this self-admiring flock
that I resent and love alike
and talk with him in earnest!
ok, here goes. please criticize. thanks for reading it :)
it's basically 'about' some intellectuals at dinner *****ing about their colleagues from another department (just in case I'm being enigmatic once more...) well, it's not really 'about' that anyway...
The Jester King at Dinner
Look how my helpless Lord basks in attention,
first among equals at an Italian restaurant.
Gulping his wine in hasty swigs,
he expertly weaves threads of conversation
across the table to and fro
from the honoured guest to my Lord's underlings
everyone gets their own show tonight
from subtle theories to postage stamps
every topic gets its due
Bright-eyed with rapt excitement
I listen as he unfolds once more
an epic of everyday events
while his patient comrade serenely smiles
and feigns indulgence at the repetition
pleasantly we warble on of this and that and such
until he hits upon our rival-friends,
those would-be scholars, pretenders to our funds,
the butt of all our jokes.
And each in turn derides them with more scorn
with sharper wit each would outshine the other.
All four agreeing and competing with the other three ,
we power on the whirling train of puns
pushing merrily towards exhaustion.
Forgot the honoured guest,
the world that looms beyond our circle,
what is amiss with our teaching as with theirs.
Wrapping each other in shared words,
still our snarls bite back at those who straggle.
Now at my wit's end, I catch the gentle sober glance
of one lower and yet wiser than my Lord.
Oh, could I quit this self-admiring flock
that I resent and love alike
and talk with him in earnest!