Alfred to the Barmaid
Please
be large
And
make mine a large one.
Be Marjorie or Barbara,
Blonde
or dark.
Have
a smile
Which
in the Public Bar
Pierces the brume of the smokers
For
whom you
Pour
and pull,
Which
may be mental gloom
As well, that soon you will ring their
Parting
bell.
But
lock us
In with
you, we few who
Orbit yet your solar presence,
And
dispense
The
gold light
And
the clear – ruddy beer
And the gin that clings to glasses.
Keep
us here
To
revere
Your
splendid married breasts
And gracious spread of rear, bending
Down
for crisps.
How
kindly
You
heed our ear-bending;
How blindly we adore you, night
And
morning.
Oh
balm, oh
Barmaid
bountifully
Blessed, we pile upon your altar
Votive
pence,
Perusing
Pensively,
beyond our
Froth-laced bumpers, a roundness deemed
Most
priceless.
Oh
bow once
More
to the Lounge, oh sway
Those marvellous receptacles,
Displacing
So
much air,
Of blouse
and brassière
Once more before my spectacles.
There,
oh there
Could
I ride
All
in the valley of
Life, bright cavalier of a light
Ale
brigade.
Come
but a
Bit
nearer, Maud, Gwen, Rose
Or Vera. My heart is crossing
The
bar, dear.
John Gibbens, from The Promise
Go
to the Trading Post
to buy The Promise