Lessons My Father Taught Me
my old man always said
'if you can pour a good beer
and make a decent cup of tea
you'll be okay'my mother taught me
how to cook, dust, clean, wash, iron
and anything else to do with
serving men. she said
it's the one way to catch one.the man she caught gave her
twenty bucks a week, enough,
he said, to feed and clothe
five children (and i know now
it's not enough, even allowing
for inflation)but he could pick a horse
(twice a year)
and he could pour a beer
(at the expense of his career)
and he knew how to fight
for his life when in a corner
and he knew how to win the hearts
of women ... and his daughter.now
i pour beers that look like icecreams
and my tea is weak as bat's piss.
from Fit of Passion by Kim Downs and Liz Hall-Downs (Fit of Passion Collective, 1997) ISBN 0 646 316 036
