Monday 11 May 2020

Ten by Eight











Ten by eight is a monochrome film sheet;
Ten by eight is the perfect picture size;
Ten by eight is a Barbara Cartland photo
Ready framed for Grandma – what a lovely pink surprise.

Ten by eight can be a snappy silver snare drum;
Ten by eight can be a model scene of war;
Ten by eight could make a decent garden shed
Or an urban chicken coop with an automated door.

Ten by eight is the size of the patio
Measured in steps – well at least it is in mine.
All around the dryer and the plant pots and the deckchair
I wend my merry way when the sun sees fit to shine.

Say it’s 26 steps for a solitary circuit,
I’d need just under 400 laps in a day
For the gadget on my wrist to spark digital fireworks;
This is lockdown athletics in a most surreal way.

In the private carpark through a gate from the patio
The space measures out at 50 steps by 10;
That’s 93 laps, give or take a little,
To keep up my steps and my mood approaching Zen.

Ten by eight can be the size of a certificate
Stamped and signed and emblazoned with your name;
Will I feel like a winner at the end of this marathon
Or just like a pawn in some dumb god’s game?


1 May 2020

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