THE HOI POLLOI RECEPTION BY A. MOLE
abass mohammed@mohammedabass484730
5 days ago
The food stood on the table
The drink stood on the bar
The crisps lay in the glass dish
`Twixt the gherkins in the jar.
The poet were expected
The artist had sent word
The pianist and flautist
Were bringing lemon curd.
The novelist were travelling
from dim and distant lands
The journalist were trekking
O'er deep and shifting sands.
The ℎ𝑜𝑖 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑖 stood standing
Outside the party room
Which glowed with invitation
Like a twenty-year-old womb.
Yet they dared not cross the portal
To taste the waiting feast
For fear of what would happen
If they dared to cross the beast.
The ℎ𝑜𝑖 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑖 grew weary
And sat upon the floor
And told each other stories
Until the clock struck four.
They drew each other pictures
One person sang a song
But was careful at the end
To say 'Of course 𝑡ℎ𝑒𝑦 won't be long'.
The artist and the poets
And the people who write books
The musician and the journalists
And the Nouvelle Cuisine cooks
Sent word they couldn't make it
They couldn't leave the town.
They were meeting VIP's for drinks
And couldn't make it down.
The gherkins went untasted
The crisps were never crunched
The Chablis kept its cork in
The Twiglets went unmunched
But still the people waited
For a hundred million days
And just to help to pass the time
They wrote and acted plays.
They carved a pretty pattern
On the panel of the door.
They painted lovely pictures on the
Coldly concrete floor
They sang in pretty harmony
About the epic wait.
Then hush!...Was that a car we heard
Was that a creaking gate?
It's the sculptors on the gravel
It's the poets wild-eyed
Quick open wide the door to
Let the journalist inside.
Oh welcome to our party!
We thought you'd never come
So sad we ate the food though
We haven't left a crumb!
For in the time of waiting
The ℎ𝑜𝑖 𝑝𝑜𝑙𝑙𝑜𝑖 grew brave
They went into the room
And took the things they craved.
And the poets and the sculptors
And the artist and the cooks
And the women good at music
And the men who wrote the books
And the journalist and actors
And the people trained to sing
Stood waiting ever after for the party to begin.
