And Dad said mow…

 

Dad said ‘Go look out the window my son

And tell me what can be seen

So I peeked through the blind

And what did I find?

But acres and acres of green

 

Dad said, ‘now ponder this, my boy

Why might I be showing

You the messy and the tangled

weeds and brambles?

It’s because the garden needs mowing’

 

‘But father,’ I squeaked, in a lazy way

‘You know my skills are nul

I’m a poet, I whimpered

I’m not green fingered

Can’t you get a professional?’

 

‘Nonsense my lad, get thee to a mower’

And he gave me the keys to the shed

I gazed, aghast

at the overgrown grass

Which towered above my head

 

‘But father,’ I quivered, my knees a’knocking

Who knows what monsters lurk

In the dreadful depths

Of this botanical mess?’

‘Shut up boy! You’re just shy of hard work.’

 

I stood by the grass with the mower in hand

and peered through the trembling reeds

I pulled on the cord

The lawn mower roared

And took off at a sickening speed

 

I carved a neat path through the wilds of the grass

I’d tidied the garden at cost

The thick vegetation

Was disorientating

And within a short time I was lost

 

I couldn’t say how many years had passed

I emerged fully bearded and thinner

I collapsed on the ground

But dad looked proud

‘Good work,’ he said, ‘now go get the strimmer’