Humpty Dumpty is falling as is London Bridge
and of course both Jack and Jill
as well as all those poor babies tumbling from broken boughs
is the emperor wearing only Jockey underpants
what about all the tail-less mice and
gruesome spiders perched next to tuffets
not so fast you say
the spider climbs the spout
the wheels on the bus go round
Jack gets the magic beans
and I say ding dong
we are all scrambling out of the frying pan
where dozens of eggs were broken
to make incredible inedible omelets
flames are shooting from the stove
and the last straws are blazing
can you hear the fat lady sing
ashes in the derry-o
we all fall down
can you see Jack Horner cowering in the corner
as Little Bo Peep lowers the curtain
adios ta ta toodle-loo
the audience shuffles home, hoping
burnt straw can be spun into gold
F
Fiercely Tender: The Simple Complex World of Michael Ondaatje’s Novels
Shortly afterwards in that novel we encounter a celebration of the body, grime and all, unimpeded by this abstraction called mind. While writing the body might seem not altogether unusual, my point is that you cannot simply assume its naturalness. Language, even fictional language, is so much of a mentally...