I had the poet Ernest Christopher Dowson (one of the so-called Decadent Poets) in mind when I wrote this.
“He liked to rhyme
And was fond
Of women
And wine,
And sinning.
Now he has gone beyond
Women,
And wine,
And sinning.
And he is out of time
For rhyme”.
A young lady of ill repute
Is fond of playing the flute.
Her friend Lin
Plays my violin.
And me? I play the lute!
In honour of the season, I have reproduced below my poem, Autumn, which can be found in my collection Light and Shade https://www.amazon.co.uk/Light-Shade-serious-not-poems-ebook/dp/B08B4X3GVX. Autumn is an acrostic. You can find out about acrostics here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acrostic.
—
August has long since ceased to be.
Upon the forest floor,
The oak and chestnut has shed its store,
Unceremoniously, of conker and acorn.
Mulch for the lawn,
Now leaves feed the ground.
When a young lady named Claire
Said, “you gentlemen should take care
As there are many young women
To tempt you all into sinning”,
I remembered last night with her …
Religious or not
Who, on hearing the church clock
Or solemn bell
Has not had cause to pause,
And think on heaven and hell?
The fool and the wise
Get dust in their eyes.
But the wise
Heed the clock,
Whilst the fool does not
Sitting here in my gown
I remember my once brown
Hair, now white.
Fishing is delight
(And often pain).
And frequently we gain
Our wish in fish.
But oh! how quickly our desire
For a particular fish does expire.
And then we fish
For yet more fish.
But time’s great line
Hooks us all
In the end.
Dusk softly falls
. As blackbirds call
Tis a kind of poetry
As brother calls to brother.
Or, more prosaically,
Its merely territory.
But tis poetry to me.
My friend who is high in society
Said, “Kevin, I am fond of variety.
That pretty Miss Lou
Goes well with Sue!”.
I said, “there’s some merit in sobriety!”.
As I entered my fine old bedroom
I met a young lady named Moon.
I said, “my dear,
What brings you here?”.
She said, “you’re smoking a magic mushroom!”.
There was a young lady named Fay
Who began all her texts with hey!
A horse called Billy
Being old and silly,
Answered all of Fay’s texts with neigh!
