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AUTOCRACY

AUTOCRACY

 

I liked tobacco far too much,

The coffin nail, the weak mans crutch,

I gave it up I’m pleased to say,

And chased those Passing Clouds away.

 

Cream cakes were once another vice,

A single one would not suffice,

I guzzled pastries by the score ,

But now would want for not one more.

 

I tried barbiturates in the day,

They chased the desperate thoughts away,

But even chemists have their bounds,

And social drugs are biting hounds.

 

I’ve sipped the brandy, crossed that line,

The fetid absinth, grand–cru wine,

But in the end our palates pall,

And best that we abjure it all.

 

A three mile jog would do me good ?

Perhaps it might, not sure it could,

I fear that should I not refrain,

I’d simply suffer endless pain.

 

And that my friend would never do,

I’ll leave that sort of thing to you,

This masochism of the soul,

Has little space to leave me whole.

 

When virtue sends me cold and blind,

I need some sinful sense of mind,

Some memories of sun-filled days,

That mea-culpa gloried haze.

 

The saints are good it’s in the word,

But some were known to sin I’ve heard,

Better then the coloured past,

That leads to sainthood at the last.

 

I’m with Augustus ‘Hippo’s man,

Perhaps that knowledge is the plan,

Perhaps that pull I can’t resist,

I seek within a hidden mist.

 

Gods Glory, ‘Nothing’ who can say,

Are faith and love life’s comic play,

What waits? My whole life questions that,

Praise God the final Autocrat.

 

◄ The Substance Of Angels

PILGRIMAGE ►

Comments

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Yvonne Brunton

Fri 17th Aug 2012 19:35

Well done on 42 virtuous years and an enjoyable poem.

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M.C. Newberry

Thu 16th Aug 2012 13:47

Peter Stuyvesant was my fag
When young: I coughed up...what a drag!
Then I tried cigar and pipe,
(But they brought more stains I had to wipe)
In later life I now look back
At the messy rituals of "tabac".
I even drink fruit juice, not beer,
But I'm spending less and that brings cheer!

Like the "look back and wonder" sense that your lines evoke in my memory. The Lord loves a sinner!!
Cheers...

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Margaret Holbrook

Thu 16th Aug 2012 10:26

Don't remember the brand names, but liked the poem!

<Deleted User> (6895)

Thu 16th Aug 2012 00:06

Passing clouds..lawdy,that name takes us back
another brand no-one seems to remember when asked..Dominoes? poor mans black russian.

And then there was the hobby
of fag packet collecting
which we are no doubt right in assuming
still goes on.
Very enjoyable poem Ian.Cheers

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Larisa Rzhepishevska

Wed 15th Aug 2012 19:54

Very nice poem. Enjoyed reading it.
Best wishes, Larisa

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Ian gant

Wed 15th Aug 2012 18:24

Always the show off in the day I smoked Passing Cloud and Sobrani Black Russian Cigaretts to some effect or should that be affect.
Who will remember those brands in another forty years. Its 42 years since I gave up.

What Virtue !!

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