...and now it's time for Skinner & T'witch's new, regular feature...(Steve) Skinner's Poem of the Week...

On Recent Occasions

I’ve noticed, on recent occasions, you stir your coffee to the right,

And when you leave the dining room, always turn off the light.

I’m left alone in darkness, feeling quite bereft,

As for many years you stirred your drinks distinctly to the left.

I’ve noticed, on recent occasions, you’ve hired a Viking Lord

Who rampaged through the bathroom, and sliced me with his sword.

I didn’t mind the loss of blood or sense of disbelief,

It’s just I hadn’t finished yet brushing all my teeth.

One morning over breakfast, you handed me a note

That you’d made a pact with Lucifer and sacrificed a goat.

But I was rather busy, rushing for the train,

And needed my umbrella, as it probably looked like rain.

Around our quiet garden, you ran a chariot race,

With ancient Roman soldiers charging round at quite a pace.

I didn’t mind the horses, but the gladiators slew

The bush of secret roses I’d been growing there for you.

I’ve noticed, on recent occasions, you hired a sharp harpoon

And captured giant spiders that threw webs around the moon,

But I returned to reading in the fading afternoon

And wondered if my orchids would be flowering fairly soon.

I’ve noticed, on recent occasions, our house had withered away

Like an old, sun-dried tomato, that glows with sad decay.

Our marriage has been drifting, and sinking year on year,

But you never shared your anger, you never shed a tear.

I’ve noticed, on recent occasions, you seem to have lost your mind.

Was it like a pair of gloves that you one day left behind?

I could go to Baker Street one afternoon to see

If it’s hanging on a coat rack in their lost, lost property.

But now it’s time for cocoa, in the dying of the day,

And I’ll think about the many things I always meant to say.

Copyright Steve Skinner 2017

Tags: New, Poem