Thursday 23 September 2010

I 'Signed On' Today.


Toads Revisited
by Philip Larkin



Walking around in the park
Should feel better than work:
The lake, the sunshine,
The grass to lie on,

Blurred playground noises
Beyond black-stockinged nurses -
Not a bad place to be.
Yet it doesn't suit me.

Being one of the men
You meet of an afternoon:
Palsied old step-takers,
Hare-eyed clerks with the jitters,

Waxed-fleshed out-patients
Still vague from accidents,
And characters in long coats
Deep in the litter-baskets -

All dodging the toad work
By being stupid or weak.
Think of being them!
Hearing the hours chime,

Watching the bread delivered,
The sun by clouds covered,
The children going home;
Think of being them,

Turning over their failures
By some bed of lobelias,
Nowhere to go but indoors,
No friends but empty chairs -

No, give me my in-tray,
My loaf-haired secretary,
My shall-I-keep-the-call-in-Sir:
What else can I answer,

When the lights come on at four
At the end of another year?
Give me your arm, old toad;
Help me down Cemetery Road

3 comments:

Unknown said...

I wont say 'one door closes and another opens'... because shit who needs it and I know that for sure! but it's a good way to get the state to fund your photography for awhile and pursue some meaningful work.

mark page said...

Cheers Tom. Maybe I can revisit Paul Grahams 'Beyond Caring'

marcus doyle said...

Stay Hungry!