Thursday, October 1, 2020

The Cruise of HMS Disreputable

 

Lawrence Hall

Mhall46184@aol.com

https://hellopoetry.com/lawrence-hall/

https://poeticdrivel.blogspot.com/

 

The Cruise of HMS Disreputable

 

                                             For myself,

I knew as soon as I could read and write

That I must be a poet.

 

-Sir John Betjeman

 

I left Mesquite and broken promises

In the after-market rear-view mirror

Bolted to the wing of my third-hand MG

And rattled along that magic road to the west

 

Sleeping bag, Olivetti portable

Dostoyevsky, Yevtushenko, some clothes

An honorable discharge from a dishonorable war

A few undistinguished undergraduate credits

 

And now…

 

I have left behind my Nobel acceptance speech

Because the journey will have to be enough

 

 

No comments: