The Food of Love

[dafydd manton]

In the sweet lang syne, when a bus driver sat in his own cab, far from the maddening crowd, the relationship
between him and his conductress, or clippie, could and sometimes did blossom, amongst the heady aroma of
diesel fumes, pine-aroma cleaning fluids and damp humanity.

Picture the scene. Somewhere, leant against a lamp-post in a cold and misty Lincoln, a lone man,
hands deep in his pockets, peaked cap on the back of his head and hand-rolled cigarette
dangling from his lower lip, muses in the flickering gas-light...................


Murgatroyd, O Murgatroyd,
My dear and faithful clippie,
Meet me after work tonight
Outside the Monks Road Chippie.

Murgatroyd, O Murgatroyd,
O let me taste your lips.
I find you so desirable
With fourpence worth of chips.

Muragtroyd, O Murgatroyd
I'd sail the Seven Seas,
To be with me, my darling one,
With beans or mushy peas.

Murgatroyd,O Muragtroyd
So lithe and fair of face.
Will you always stay like this,
With eating all that plaice?

Murgatroyd, O Murgatroyd,
Like ponies in their paddock,
Let us run through life's tall grass
And share each others haddock.

Murgatroyd, O Murgatroyd,
My Love, it's getting late.
Let me walk you home tonight,
And help you eat that skate.

Murgatroyd, OMurgatroyd
Although we're getting fatter,
Yet will I love thee all my days,
And share thy batter platter.

Murgatroyd, O Murgatroyd,
O will you wear my ring?
And stay with me through thick and thin
And chips with everything?

Murgatroyd, OMurgatroyd
I love the way you look
But if we live as man and wife...
Could you learn to cook?

[PrinceMyshkin]

The introduction alone would have been worth the price of admission, but the rest of it's great fun, too.

[dafydd manton]

Thanks, Prince!! You mean I should charge......?? (5 Pence/Cents!)

[Delta40]

I love your poetry dafydd. I hope one day I have a grandchild called murgatroyd!

[dafydd manton]

Murgatroyd - and the other one called Marmaduke Montmorency, or Arbuthnot!! Enough to put you off having kids, never mind grandchildren!

[Delta40]

lol my daughter says if she has twins she'll call them Saxon and Norman...

[dafydd manton]

And what's wrong with Cymro and Celt.......?

[Delta40]

she's australian mate! anyway Dafydd, I don't know where you get your inspiration from. your poems put a smile on my dial and I think your serious work should be given more limelight

[hillwalker]

Puts me in mind of 'On The Buses' - loved it, daf. This is one of those poems that begs to be read out by the likes of Stanley Holloway.

[dafydd manton]

Now there's praise!! Thanks for that one, Hill. It is half based on experience, only my clippie was called Pete. There was a marriage between this rather delicate, pale-faced creature with fluttering hands and pale-blue eyes and a great hulking, foul-mouthed brute with a moustache - by the name of Sylvia! And I wish I were making this up!

[dafydd manton]

she's australian mate! anyway Dafydd, I don't know where you get your inspiration from. your poems put a smile on my dial and I think your serious work should be given more limelight

That's extraordinarily kind of you! I've never before tried writing serious stuff, and I think it took a little mental collision - a catalyst, if you like - to get me to try. I've been writing comic rubbish for years, though - probably a bit more "me"! Thanks for the encouragement!

[PrinceMyshkin]

Thanks, Prince!! You mean I should charge......?? (5 Pence/Cents!)

What?! You mean it was FREE? And I just sent a cheque to the Dafydd Manton Foundation for the Terminally Funny!

[Delta40]

have you noticed that comic actors like robin williams evolve into more serious work and are brilliant in their art. Your talent is not restricted to one genre, I am sure.

[dafydd manton]

What?! You mean it was FREE? And I just sent a cheque to the Dafydd Manton Foundation for the Terminally Funny!

Fair enough - I promise not to spend it all in the same shop!

[Jerrybaldy]

I could taste the vinegar and body odour Daffy. Nostalgic and very funny. It seems the whole world had more character. But Nostalgia aint what it used to be :)

[Maryd.]

Ok D, loved it. So funny yet with a sense of romantism and serisouness at the same time. I had to read it twice though, as I felt the need to sing it the second time.

[dafydd manton]

You'll have to let me know the tune! Oh, but I hope there was no romanticism or seriousness in there - I HATE fish. never, ever eat the stuff. So it's good for the brain....

[PrinceMyshkin]

You'll have to let me know the tune! Oh, but I hope there was no romanticism or seriousness in there - I HATE fish. never, ever eat the stuff. So it's good for the brain....

Alas, not so good for the brain of the fish.

[dafydd manton]

Sadly, fish and I have a certain affinity - we both forget things in 7 seconds, or open and close our mouths regularly for no apparent reason. The only advantage the fish has is that when it does so, it doesn't actually say anything!!

[Bar22do]

I have the music for that one. Have enjoyed it immensely!
Disarmed, Murgatroyd will learn to cook, promised!

Best - Bar