The Lamp Said

A TS Eliot cento

Let us go then, you and I

The lamp said,

To report the behaviour of the sea monster,

Miss Nancy Ellicott,

Queen of Heaven.

And I think, again, of this place

Of cracked cornets

Of faint stale smells of beer

Of sunless dry geraniums

And bats with baby faces in the violet light

And even the Abstract Entities

And other heroes of that kidney.

I smile, of course,

And I say, Cousin Harriet, here is the Boston Evening Transcript

Stirring the water in his bath

With the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other.

Talking of trivial things

The lamp said,

Jellicle cats and dogs all must

Chill

Like a dancing bear

With seaweed in its hair.

It is impossible to say just what I mean

With words and meanings. The poetry does not matter.

I sometimes wonder if that is what Krishna meant.

(Featuring too many TS Eliot poems to mention)