HELPLESS FEMALES

                                                               XXXVI


Are women really the weaker sex?
Our Regency sisters were smart,
They seemed so frail and fragile -
Their helplessness was an art.

They were shielded from all worries
Anxiety made them faint.
They were as pure as driven snow -
Like a madonna or saint.

No heavy bags could they carry
Just a parasol and muff.
A small reticule and 'kerchief -
They were more than enough.

A couple of centuries later
We have women's lib.
Not for us a home-bound life
Of merely kitchen and crib.

We can have a  career and
Employers must not discriminate
But after a busy day at work
When we get home late ...

There's cooking and cleaning
Shopping and laundry too.
Oh to be a helpless female
With absolutely nothing to do.

August 1988

SUMMER SACRIFICES

                                                                       XXV

All through the summer months
Sacrifices are made
To the ancient weather gods
Asking for their aid.

Our altars we call "barbecues"
They come in many sizes
And from these votive offering sites
A pall of thick smoke rises.

We don't sacrifice live creatures
We're too civilised for that -
We buy expensive cuts of meat
And burn them sooty black.

The smoke gets in our eyes
There are midges in our hair-
But we must do our duty
In the chilly evening air.

If it should be raining
We hold it just the same,
Meths. and an umbrella aid
The sacrificial flame.

After we have eaten
Our blackened piece of meat
We hope the gods will grant us
Fine weather all next week.

Tewkesbury -
To Eunice

1.8.1989

LIFE IN INDIA IS NEVER DULL

                                               XXXIV

When I return from |India
Life in England seems predictable and dull
In India, pandemonium and chaos often reign
With an occasional and temporary lull.

There's always a frisson of uncertainty -
Will we have a power cut today?
Will the lights suddenly dim and flicker
And then comletely fade away?

Then there's the problem of water
That we live with throughout the year.
A waterless house full of people
Is an ever-present fear.

All these little uncertainties
Keep us in India on our toes
The euphoria of plenty of water
No complacent Western housewife knows.

Western worries are more complex
What could happen in the world - and might.
In India our problems are more basic:
Will we have any water and light?

On my regular and frequent visits to Bombay I stayed in our old family home.
Wadia House, Colaba had plenty of character, but cronic water shortage. 

2.2.1995