Wasted

“Wasted ! “
Despairingly you sip your tea
And sigh for me.

But, aunt, you do not know,
Do not understand.
Just think –
If I had always been a bank clerk
Behind a grille,
Talking weather
Counting up the till.
Weekend tennis
Drinking beer with Tom and Bill
Yearly to Devon,
Dreaming of France
{Book at the boarding house
Well in advance} –
A cabbage !

“But what is wrong with that ?”

Now listen, aunt –
I have lived with fishermen
A chorus boy, solicitors,
Paperhanger, journalist,
Drunk a Pimms with barristers,
Scrubbed decks with a coalminer,
And seen their homes.
Watched a darting flying fish
Been right up a skyscraper,
Seen bananas growing green,
And eaten real hamburger,
Danced to Teddy Wilson’s band,
Dinner at a consulate.

Yes, aunt,
And I have known the royal sea
And seen the myriad northern lights,
St Elmo’s fire, the coral reefs.
I’ve felt the wind, the snow, the heat,
And known two meanings of cold feet.
Oh, yes,
And spewed my guts clean out
And felt my knees give way with fright
Wished I were home again
Instead of keeping watch all night,
Seen men fight and laugh and sing –
And I wouldn’t have missed a single thing.

Wasted, aunt ?
No.