when i was young / David George

when i was young

"When I was young and had no sense
 I left my balls on a barbed wire fence."
                                  -David George.

Oh toodle doodle doo...

sitting on the stage
of the local village hall

two rows – big kids in the back row
and smaller ones in the front.

Parents and other garrulous locals
packed to the gunwales

in the body of the hall.
Kids buttoned up tight

short back and sides
for the boys and pigtails

de rigueur for most of the girls.
Freckles optional.

But all them dandy little faces
charcoaled an' shiny

In the hall's one spotlight.

Helen and Elizabeth. Peter
and Warren and Bruce.

Arms folded, little eyes a twinkling
"Way down upon the swanny river...

...where the ducks and the cygnets do play;
where seldom is heard..."

...and Danny wipes his nose
And Sandra McPherson, called Sandy,

Scrunches up her knees and looks super-good.

~~
D     A     V     I     D        G     E     O     R     G     E
David George 
Te Waipounamu [South Island],  New Zealand.

[All rights reserved by the author - Used with permission]

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