[lit-ideas] Sunday Twofer
- From: David Ritchie <ritchierd@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 26 Dec 2010 11:51:11 -0800
of man and fundraiser i sing
as at the door again are those who beg for coin
and fill the mail with sadness and whine
hirelings
on the phone who claim to be my ancient chums
alumni kith
who slip their hands right down among
and fumble round for notes
tis the season
to nurture
to raise up
to care for
whatever poor
half-starved
pitiful and shivering
be they ever so ugly
hum
bugs
lying close by
In the middle of the night's watch, having read Betjamen before sleep, I was
up, with chemistry and suburbs in mind. On Sunday we beat an ex-ICI man and
his partner at tennis. He was from Slough, that stretch on which Betjamen
wanted bombs to fall. It's AkzoNobel now, no longer ICI. The company began
when Brunner Mond joined Nobel Explosives and United Alkali and British
Dyestuffs. They made Perspex, Dulux paint, Terylene, Sunbeam motorcycles,
insecticides, skin creams, and most memorably crimplene. They had sports clubs
and company balls, asked for and got loyalty from men on the postwar plan.
It's all gone now, sold off bit by bit. The future turned out to have women
and a little more than plastics in. Innit?
David Ritchie,
Portland, Oregon
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