Come evil bombs. (A sort of parody.)
First published 27 07 07. Any similarity with a poem by a certain JB is purely intentional.
Come evil bombs and fall on Britain
Not fit for decent people now
No one immune we’ll all be smitten
Embrace us, Death!
Come bombs and blow us all away
Our wide screens sets and cars of play,
Our latest diet and keep fit place
Fast food, canned breath.
Mess up the mess you’ve made of the town
A house for twenty thousand down
And still not paid in fifty years
Yet never live to see!
And there the man whose life is veiled
Make sure the package is well nailed
Then let him wash away the sin
In women’s tears.
It’s not their fault-they do not know
The suffering on T/V and radio
Go to a wedding so far away
Over in Nofaultistan.
Talk of things in trains and cars,
In dingy cafes and fast food bars—
But never look up and see the stars
Over in Nofaultistan.
Come evil bombs and fall on Britain
It can’t be changed – it has been written
The cabbages are with us now
The Earth breathes out…
This is good. Johnny B would approve. 🙂
Thanks Jay your comment is appreciated…
Nofaultistan. Ha Ha Ha
And the cabbages are with us now. 😀
Who is JB? I’d love to see the work you pirated ..er… parodied. This makes me smile, it’s so cleverly done, though I think it shouldn’t. You are writing about a very serious and scary set of events/problems. But you certainly bring attention to them. Well wrought. 🙂
Bel, JB is ‘John Betjeman.’ His poem ‘Slough’. inspired my Parody. My poem has been about a bit and was published in ‘Observations in C Major’ in 2008.
Thanks for your comment…
gerry x
As I was born and bred in Slough, this caught my attention. The day JB died, The Slough Observer had the title: “Good Riddance!”
Hi Tom, I’m sure JB was only being tongue in cheek. The good burgers of Slough couldn’t really have meant that 😉
Re – continuation of ‘the clock’. I think nobody dare comment after the recent exchanges! you could be the first –
I am deflated 😉 😉 😉
gerry.
I can’t find the extended clock story. is it on here?
I heard once that Betjeman was talking about the new (at the time) Industrial estate that was built as he regarded it as a blot on an otherwise pleasant landscape. I don’t know if it’s true, but it fits with human history of inaccurate understanding and jumping to conclusions that typifies our society..
He was talking about the Slough Industrial Estate. At the time, it was the largest industrial estate in the world. I used to raid many of its factories in a huge army of fellow children. Enid Blyton Famous Five it was not!. Chix bubble Gum factory was pretty good. We got ginormous balls of gum from the left overs bins. Mars on Dundee Road was incredible for all kinds of chocolate sweets. I worked in 4 of the factories in the breaks from my undergraduate degree. I would just walk to the estate with a CV and walk in each… Read more »