FIRST
Be it a girl, or one of the boys,
It is scarlet all over its avoirdupois,
It is red, it is boiled; could the obstetrician
Have possibly been a lobstertrician?
His degrees and credentials were hunky-dory,
But how's for an infantile inventory?
Here's the prodigy, here's the miracle!
Whether its head is oval or spherical,
You rejoice to find it has only one,
Having dreaded a two-headed daughter or son;
Here's the phenomenon all complete,
It's got two hands, it's got two feet,
Only natural, but pleasing, because
For months you have dreamed of flippers or claws.
Furthermore, it is fully equipped:
Fingers and toes with nails are tipped;
It's even got eyes, and a mouth clear cut;
When the mouth comes open the eyes go shut,
When the eyes go shut, the breath is loosed
And the presence of lungs can be deduced.
Let the rockets flash and the cannon thunder,
This child is a marvel, a matchless wonder.
A staggering child, a child astounding,
Dazzling, diaperless, dumbfounding,
Stupendous, miraculous, unsurpassed,
A child to stagger and flabbergast,
Bright as a button, sharp as a thorn,
And the only perfect one ever born.
SECOND
Arrived this evening at half-past nine.
Everybody is doing fine.
Is it a boy, or quite the reverse?
You can call in the morning and ask the nurse.
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16 comments:
Gorgeous!
Dear Cath, I suspect from your positivity that you are in fact a first born child? I am not, sadly. I am a subsequent child. My parents filled in almost as many words in my baby book as there are in the second stanza of this poem. Hmph.
What's a baby book? I have a file with my old medical records. Is it similar to that?
Zat all? Meh.
When she's older she'll realise [she] did all the usual stuff at the usual times because she has teeth and can walk, laugh and eat. Surely it's obvious?
Fully agree.
A friend gave me a baby book but I hate handwriting so I simply create a new word document every year and use it as a diary to record the funny things he says and does.
Ah yes, I filled out the first one's baby book meticulously although I lost interest by the second year. Second one, I got as far as the birth weight
I bought a baby book for our first born.... and it is still waiting attention (she turns one next month). I also bought a pregnancy diary to record things. That could almost be resold as only "slightly used".... But yes Kettle, I am a first born child - we are a slightly weird breed!
Super-duper off topic, but fuuuuck! I'll bet EMS is glad to not be in London right now.
Ramon, any insights into possible social/political/historical underpinnings of all this?
Alex, I have given a great deal of thought to this and considered the historical connections, going back to the Gordon Riots of the 18th century.
My conclusion is this.
The English are fucking lunatics.
You'll never know the comfort it gives me, knowing that you're here to put things into perspective like that, Ramon.
I'm here to help, Alex.
ah Ramon, brilliant
Panic on the steets of London.
Panic on the steets of Birmingham.
What I want to know is, why are so many Smiths fans so angry?
¿The disappointing return of the Gobbledok?
Obviously, I'm missing something, Ramon.
Oh Alex!
I despair for you, I really do.
*Snort*
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