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Pathetic Entreaty
by Alex SmythWith weatherd coat and well worn shoes I knock on bolted door.
Warm light shines from the windowpane, smoke rises, wafting fore.
The eyebolt slides suspiciously,"We are of certain Id.
"We suffer not those wont of soul, step up and show a quide."*
What, just one quide? I ask.My purse holds plenty! Nay, tis true!
Full rounds of meat and drink and tips for keeper and for crew!
For I've been blest with merry sort, with tradewinds fair and strong.
We've gathered gold and spices rare, adventure, wit and song.
A scholar not of form am I, I know not beat nor trane.
But I entice with smile and wink good fellowship to gain.
No maudlin find. (Oh I have salt but hold it near my heart.)
We'll toast with ales, tell raucous tales, and sing till sparrows' fart!**
With weatherd coat and well worn shoes I knock on bolted door.
Fine food, cool drink, good friends, warm hearth.
Why ever ask for more?
*quide is olde English for tasty morsel (allegory:poem to be voted on) as opposed to quid the money (membership fee)
**Learned from Peter O'Toole autobiography as synonym for morning, when sparrows wake up, shake their little feathers, and let one rip:o) 05/20/2001 Author's Note: Wrote this as my submission for membership back a few years ago in another incarnation. Thought I would repost for old times.
Posted on 04/23/2005
Copyright © 2025 Alex Smyth
| Member Comments on this Poem |
| Posted by Graeme Fielden on 04/23/05 at 11:38 AM Fantastic in form and humour, Alex...Sparrow's fart, huh? That's one of my father's most common phrases (He's a Welshman) |
| Posted by Quentin S Clingerman on 04/24/05 at 01:49 AM Amazing consistency with the "olde English". Surely a worthy submission for entrance into Pathetic.org membership. A touch of wistful, whimsy, and humor I think the author of "The Canterbury Tales" would have liked this! :) |
| Posted by Charles E Minshall on 04/26/05 at 08:37 PM Alex this one is a lot of fun to read. Thanks for
posting it. I will watch "till sparrows fart" for
your next posting...Charlie |
| Posted by Philip F De Pinto on 06/10/05 at 02:04 PM yeah, Alex those we sparrows learned how to do that thing of theirs, from the time they were dinosaurs and they exhausted so, it reduced them to the little critters we see today. love the rhythm and conditions upon which you tread the reader. |
| Posted by Glenn Currier on 06/19/05 at 11:13 PM I enjoyed this and lept into the images, still tasting the bubbly and feelings the coolwarm delight it brings on the way down. |
| Posted by Max Bouillet on 07/01/05 at 03:25 PM I love the form and language... fair friends and good times. A toast to many years to come. :) Thanks for posting. |
| Posted by Graeme Fielden on 07/09/05 at 02:52 PM A most deserving POTD...I love this one, Alex...YAY! :D |
| Posted by Mara Meade on 07/09/05 at 08:08 PM CONGRATS on POTD! I LOVE this one! |
| Posted by Michelle Angelini on 07/09/05 at 10:47 PM Aye, a fine tale of dockside alehouses in merry olde England. I can see a joint of mutton lifted from the fire dripping with juices, and tankards being slammed on wooden tables. I expected to hear a one eyed parrot squawk, "Ahoy Matey!" Congratulations on POTD, Alex.
~Chelle~ |
| Posted by Charles E Minshall on 07/10/05 at 03:13 AM Congratulations for poem of the day Alex...Charlie |
| Posted by Paganini Jones on 07/10/05 at 07:04 AM What a fun POTD! And it must be quite an achievement for a submission poem to be given that honour so double congratulations must be in order! (A great shame it didn't format correctly on the home page but maybe it led more people to your library to find out what was going on?) |
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