poetry critical : poem

ancestral change

a whimsy

.	1



I'm one quarter Irish and another quarter germ.	2
Plus a shilling of John Bull	3
and tuppence of the Scots	4
plus the final phennig of The Lost Jew.	5

the makers of a beggar	6

All past, all gone.	7
In resume, I'm residue	8
of Paul Brown, the inventor of	9
air motors for player pianos;	10
for non-players to riff the aires	11
by pumping pedals instead of keys.	12

inventor of the "wind motor", 1889	13
to scroll the paper music rolls	14

And from the tree, too, came a Pear-	15
son, my first cousin, twice removed.	16
He did much write in social sense	17
although his given name was Drew.	18

Drew Pearson, a journalist and novelist.	19

These ancestors ran short on cash;	20
you read their only farthing left,	21
impoverished in grace and rhyme,	22
left begging alms upon the street	23
and vending thoughts for very little	24
in a one-way free exchange.	25

20 Apr 05

Rated 8 (8) by 2 users.

Active (2): 8, 8
Inactive (1): 8

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Comments:

Netsky, this is a great reflection. I enjoyed it very much. Amazing what cool things you find laying around when you look. I'm an amateur genealogist and so this resonates with me.
— ka

Wow! I really like this. I love lines 2-6 - so cleverly done and to great effect.

The whole of this has an air of poignancy that smooths the edges of its cleverness.

Line 17 only line that jars - he did much write - a little unnatural to me
Line 25 should this start uppercase?

But I do like this very much
— smugzy

you dont change my opinion
you still suck
— nicolecote

I like the last verse the best. It seems the most concrete and says it all.

I like the rest, just find it all rather strangely put.
— Isabelle5

revizzed april 7 '06.
— netskyIam

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