Thanks, John.
Nice one.
Beware of women bearing ferrets, I'd say.
Was she/he a relative of Rimbaud?
Made me laugh, anyhow.
david bircumshaw
----- Original Message -----
From: John Tranter <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, November 05, 2000 10:48 AM
Subject: "Thanks, Joe"
> John Tranter
>
> Thanks, Joe
>
> Thanks, Joe, I'll have a martini with a twist.
> I can drink spirits, but I can't take wine.
> I lost my taste for it, the first time I was kissed.
> I met this woman, down from Proserpine,
> she'd been out at Wagga picking boysenberries,
> came up to Sydney, wanted to be
> a model. She liked sherry. She had this owl,
> and a ferret that bit me. Life's full of mysteries.
> We drank - what a night. I woke drowsily
> the next day, and looked at her naked body. My soul
>
> shrivelled, my blood froze, I thought I'd fall
> flat on my face, it was like a cloud
> had hidden the sun. What she'd told me, that was
> bullshit. She was a bloke! The sheet was a shroud,
> the bed a grave for my self-respect. She rose,
> put on some makeup, dressed and was gone with a wave
> of her pretty hand. I stared at the bowl of peonies
> I'd bought her - they cost a packet, and quality shows.
> I couldn't remember much - she'd been on some rave
> about disordering the senses, how you could fantasise
>
> a new life for yourself. I wanted to die.
> I remembered her filthy kisses, her lying lips -
> she'd said she was a student, name of 'Gayleen Nye',
> a virgin! And I fell for it! As for drink, three sips
> and she was a slut. Barman, turn up the light,
> will you? This place is like the bloody Shrine
> of Remembrance. Do you know the Latin tongue?
> They have a motto: 'Love's like a river - clear
> one day, dirty the next.' You know, I might
> have another. Damn, she was well hung.
>
>
> _____________
> "Thanks, Joe" is an ode. It uses the end-words of 'Ode on Melancholy' by
> John Keats. The title is an anagram of 'John Keats'.
>
>
>
>
> from John Tranter
>
> Editor, Jacket magazine: http://www.jacket.zip.com.au/
> - new John Tranter homepage - poetry, reviews, articles, at:
> http://www.austlit.com/johntranter/
> - ancient history - the late sixties - at:
> http://setis.library.usyd.edu.au/tranter/index.html
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