Axis & Allies - damowords

When Mavis met Tommy
Tommy Sumner shuffl’d with the old dears
Into the mini‐bus outside their home,
The driver sets off to three rousing cheers,
All off to idle by the Irish foam;
An old penny
Is won within the hour,
Claimd by bingo Betty, first to spot the tower.
They book’d into a B&B,
Tour’d the same old streets & sights,
By‐the‐sea was far too windy
So they tram’d along the lights,
Then all the ladies left Tommy
For chips & early nights,
So he walked’ down to the Winter Gardens,
Sat on the bar‐stool of Mavis Johnston’s.
ʺThat’s my chair!ʺ ʺSorry, love, diʹnt know!ʺ
They hit it off at once,
Warm talk would flow to long ago,
Rich in reminiscence,
When nights were filled with love & life, & served up with
suspense!
Blackpool
Christmas
1999
Epiphanies
There is a wonder in an epic muse,
Once tasted nothing earthly may compare,
Where else may such diverse sciences fuse
In such a soft exhultation of air;
Wondering how
This music moves to me,
ʺA poet am I now, a poet shall I beʺ
With Saint John & the Patmos vine,
The bard of the Scyldingas,
Dante’s Comeddia Divine,
Tasso’s inspired crusaders,
With Spenser’s store of faerie wine
& Milton’s masterclass
I made my bed ‐ not counting the Prelude,
Hyperion, Juan ‐ don’t think me rude!
Phrenzies pursued, oft fuellʹd by wines,
Waltzing with poetry,
A mind designs ten thousand lines
Offerʹd in fealty,
To Clio, Lord Apollo & sacred Calliope.
Bognor Regis
2000