SUNSET SPECTACULAR

                                                                       XLIV

The vermilion globe of the sun -
An oily golden sea
Embraced by arms of concrete
No longer wild and free.

A gentle swell enhances
The fiery death of the sun
With delicate pastel colours 
The evening show has begun.

The heavens are evenly banded -
Light lemon, pale peach, blush pink.
The sky's light blue background
Is tinted with coloured ink.

The colours deepen and darken
The sky turns indigo blue
With a diamond flash in the gathering gloom
Sirius sparks into view.

Tropical sunsets are brief -
All too soon darkness falls.
There's another performance tomorrow
Make sure of your seat in the stalls.




Cuffe Parade, Colaba.
This stage is now occupied by tower blocks.

To RJM and WM

February 1988

VICTORIAN VALUES

                                                                     XLIII

We all know the Victorian values
Of economy, hard work and thrift.
Endeavour and achievement were greatly admred
And shirkers were given short shrift.

Victorians were upright and God fearing
So many savage souls they "saved"
Young men were bravely patriotic -
Young girls chastely behaved.

So what did they do with their rebels?
Their young folk who would not conform?
They buried them in large asylums
And forgot that they'd ever been born.

Beneath the Victorian icing
Of piety and charity-giving
Lurked hypocritical double syandards
And some very immoral living.


To Dora and Horace
 9.7.1988

FEMININE RESTRAINTS

                                                                       XLII

Right through our civilization
Irrespective of time and race
Women have always sought to
Alter their figure and face.

The feet of upper class Chinese girls
Were bound from a tender age.
They could only hobble painfully
Around the marriage stage.

The giraffe women of Africa
With their long metal-ringed necks
Look unnaturally elegant - but
Their vertebrae must be wrecks.

There are other female mutilations
Too painful to mention.
Keeping a girl pure for marriage
Was the official intention.

To get her daughter firmly corsetted
The good Victorian mother made haste;
For who would marry a well bred girl
With more than a 20" waist?

Never mind if her rib-cage was deformed
Or if she tended to faint.
Victorian ladies suffered for beauty -
Moved gracefully because of restraint.

Men like women shackled and suppressed -
So some feminists claim,
But looking at current fashions
I don't think that men are to blame.

As we enter the 21st century
Women are liberated - and free,
But perhaps girls want a reason
For not being able to flee.

Why else would they wear restricting skirts
And such dangerously high heels.
They look extremely uncomfortable -
I wonder how it feels.

But before we get too critical
About what today's young girls wear,
We should recall the sixties -
Mini skirts - stilettos - armoured hair.

A peacock's large unwieldy tail
To show off his strength is essential
Do girls wear such high-heeled shoes
To prove their breeding potential?


July 2000

A MAY VISIT TO BOMBAY

                                                                        XLI

A summer visit to Bombay
Is a hot and steamy event
85 deg. at sunrise
With humidity at 90%

It's said that ladies glow,
Men perspire and horses sweat,
But it's hard to feel ladylike
When you're wringing wet...

And the "glow" is running
Down your back and chest,
The heat saps your energy
And robs you of your zest.

Dewy beads of moisture
Form upon your face,
They link up with their neighbours
And together they race ...

Down your cheek and neck
Like a little rivulet
A tiny tumbling stream
Of swiftly flowing sweat.

Every cloud has a silver lining
So it is with Bombay's heat
As a smoother-out of wrinkles
The climate is hard to beat.

Fruit and flowers are compensations,
And though I feel a sodden wreck,
I can't remember when I last had
Such a smooth and unlined neck!



30,5,92
Written at Sahar Airport - the airconditioning had failed
 and there were no fans.  Making up this verse helped
pass a long uncomfortable night.

YOUTH IS WASTED ON THE YOUNG

                                                                        XL

The young take health for granted
And don't appreciate
Muscles that do not tire
And joints that do not ache.

They do not even know they have
Blood pressure or a heart,
Their bodies do just what they should -
Every single part.

To perfect sight and hearing
They never give a thought -
And know that their digestion
Will act just as it ought.

They don't realise how lucky they are
To just pick up a paper and read
Without the search for glasses
That we mature folk need.

Their hair is bright and glossy,
Their skin unlined and clear,
Although a tiny little spot
Occasionally may appear.

Youngsters are not grateful for
Fitness in limb and lung.
Isn't it a pity youth
Is wasted on the young.

Revised 1995

BANKING IN THE COMPUTER AGE

                                                                  XXXIX

In these days of instant communication
Why on earth does it take so long
To clear a cheque through the system
Where do they go so wrong?

Messages fly round the world in seconds
In minutes you can contact Mars -
Jupiter takes a little longer and
Saturn - perhaps a couple of hours.

Thanks to the Hubble telescope
We can see solar systems form
Study the remains of supernovas
And watch galaxies being born.

We can receive radio signals
From far distant neutron stars
And there has been mention of
Greening and colonizing Mars.

We can put astronauts in orbit
Or send them up to fix a faulty fuse
While monitoring on a video
The health and well-being of crews.

We have a reasonable postal service
Web sites on the internet,
Satellite telecommunications -
Faxes, E-mails - and yet...

IT CAN STILL TAKE SEVEN DAYS TO CLEAR A CHEQUE


Written in 1997 - and has anything changed?