Dave Carr

Bite the Bullet

by Dave Carr

Monday 13th September 2010 10:12 pm

Bite the bullet, grasp the nettle

Pot is black as so called kettle

Ash to ashes, dust to settle

Heavy guns from heavy metal.

Down in the scullery, old wives bitchin’

Too many cooks in the brothel kitchen

Holes in time, no time for stitching

You scratch back when my back’s itching

Eye for eye and a tooth for cutting

One for all and all for nothing

If not iffing then effing butting

Even keels need an even footing

Read my mind with a fat Braille finger

Love the song but not the singer

Har har har said Death’s harbinger

Ding dong bell for a dead bell ringer.

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◄ Medicine Man

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Comments

Ray Miller

Thu 16th Sep 2010 20:27

Gets better as it goes on, Dave, no two ways about it and cleverer than it looks at first glance. Last two verses are excellent, making summat sharp out of old saws. You've got me at it.

Cynthia Buell Thomas

Tue 14th Sep 2010 10:39

This is a very clever poem, Dave, and ironically funny. I like the way you have taken old 'folk sayings' and intertwined them, making fresh relationships. IMO,the piece requires more than one reading to fully appreciate your wit.

Isobel

Tue 14th Sep 2010 06:49

This is a fascinating one Dave. Like the way you've looked at old sayings and made a poem out of it. You have given all of them a sinister or negative twist though which perhaps goes with the theme. My favourite line is the one Francine highlighted - I like the combination of the 2 senses. Also like the use of the nursery rhyme at the end. It is whimsical but serious also... x

Francine

Mon 13th Sep 2010 23:25

Interesting and whimsical...

My favourite lines:
'Read my mind with a fat Braille finger
Love the song but not the singer'

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