Sunday 22 October 2017

Today we have naming of Storms.

Today we have naming of storms. Yesterday
We had light sunshine. And tomorrow morning 
We shall have to do what comes after the storm. But today,
Today we have naming of storms. Brian
Rages like lions in all of the neighbouring gardens
For  today we have naming of storms.

This is the wild west wind. And this
Is the wild west rain, whose damage you will see
When you peer from your door. And these are the wellies
Which in your case you might not have. For without wellies
You cannot jump in puddles, which is surely
The one benefit of Brians.

This is the chain saw, which is quite simply fired
With a quick flick of your thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using his finger. You can do it quite easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. For the trees
Soon will be crumpled and broken, felled to the floor
By the great winds of Brian.

As this as you can see is a candle. The purpose of this
Is to light your way to bed when your lights and your heating
Are doused by storm Brian. We call this 
Pulling together in the face of Brian. But if 
We have wellies we can jump in the puddles.
They call it playing.

They call it pulling together. It is perfectly easy
If you have any strength in your thumb. Like the saw
And the candles, and even the wellies
Which in our case we might not have. And still the wind
Howls round the chimneys and rages at trees.
For today we have naming of storms.

With apologies to Henry Reed.


(Written, as you might have guessed, last Saturday.)

6 comments:

  1. Amazing! Didn't know you had poetic tendencies ~ though not surprised!!

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    1. Thank you, Carol. Henry Reed did all the hard work - but I did have fun playing with this.

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  2. Fabulous! I didn't know you had a poetic tendency either! I sense a note of irony in the verse, though. The naming of storms seems to imbue them with a sense of importance, as though all the inconvenience is somehow all right and to be expected.

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  3. This really isn’t all my own idea - the inspiration come from a Henry Reed poem and I just played with his words. But it was fun - and maybe a little ironic!

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  4. It's a fun poem to play with. Storms is a good choice! (I do think the UK fashion for naming storms is pretty tiresome). I had a go myself a while ago - plants, not storms in this case. I've reposted it here:

    https://thelastcheckout.wordpress.com/2017/11/30/the-naming-of-plants/

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