Grooks (4 page)

The past,—well, its just like

our Great-Aunt Laura.

who cannot or will not perceive

that though she is welcome,

and though we adore her.

yet now it is time to leave.

My faith in doctors

in immense

just one thing spoils it

their pretence

of authorised

omniscience.

In International

Consequences

the players must reckon

to reap what they’ve sown.

We have a defence

against other defences,

but what’s to defend us

against our own?

It will steadily shrink,

our earthly abode,

until antipode stands

upon antipode.

Then, soles together,

the planet gone,

we’ll know the ground

that we rest upon.

in sour rationalists.

As things so

very often are

intelligence

won’t get you far.

So be glad

you’ve got more sense

than you’ve got

intelligence.

Man’s a kind

of Missing Link,

fondly thinking

he can think.

The road to wisdom?—Well, it’s plain

and simple to express:

Err

and err

and err again

but less

and less

and less.

Hamlet Anno Domini.

Co-existence

or no existence.

Channel project.

A tunnel would be possible,

a bridge would also do,

but wouldn’t it be better to

amalgamate the two?

Let bridge and tunnel undulate

in waves from shore to shore,

keeping green the memories

of those who went before

The noble art of losing face

may one day save the human race

and turn into eternal merit

what weaker minds would call disgrace.

Whenever you’re called on to make up your mind,

and you’re hampered by not having any,

the best way to solve the dilemma, you’ll find.

is simply by spinning a penny.

No—not so that chance shall decide the affair

while you’re passively standing there moping;

but the moment the penny is up in the air,

you suddenly know what you’re hoping.

Inscription for a monument at the crossroads.

Here lies, extinguished in his prime,

a victim of modernity:

but yesterday he hadn’t time—

and now he has eternity.

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