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River Bankers in Summer

 

 

People of Bucks

River Bankers all,

Or traders,

Hark, yon bunch of bankers,

The summer season is upon us

The regatta has arrived

Hasten down to Marlow

For the crowds are a-gathering

Buckwits all, and merry

 

Buckwit:

“Come on number five-one-two!”, you cry to a lady rower, as she skulls past in her figure-hugging suit of blue

Do you not realize,

Drunken Buckwit,

That the race is over,

And now she is returning to the start

Like a racehorse ambling along after a race

From whose rippling muscles rise whisps of steam?

Or like an athlete who has finished the dash

And now lopes lithely around the track

Allowing his muscles time to warm down?

 

Buckwit

You have worn your tie short and fat this year

I commend you for your shiny shirt

And your messed up hair is certainly the fashion

But I would rather not speak of the six hours it took you to perfect your appearance this morning ready to go on show at the Marlow regatta

My time would be better spent were I to use these words in praise of the Buckwettes

Flitting through the throng in their light summer dresses

 

Seeing one, it is as if she has risen naked from the dark waters of the Thames, her tanned limbs dripping with river water, whereupon a flock of brightly colored butterflies

With wings of gentle silk

Have alighted upon her naked body:

Such is the ephemeral summery nature of her dress

 

Seeing another

With hair of solar gold

It is as if a naked angel of the Sun

Emerging from the velvety heart of a flower

Her body still sticky with the nectar of the Sun

Has proceeded to roll in a bed of summer petals

Which have adhered to her

And now flutter gently in the breeze

Perfuming the air

With their heavenly scent

Such is the delightful lightness of the frocks sported by this years’ Buckwettes at the regatta

 

Buckwits,

Make way,

Leave the enclosure

For one who would stride boldly through the middle

One who has worn his tie long

For I – Cuppalot of the generous custom – have arrived upon the scene

Make way for a real man

A poet

One who sings an ode

To the beautiful Buckwettes

Who would be honored

To allow him into their VIP enclosure

To one who would maneuver the prow of his craft

Through the churning waters

Rowing onward

Rhythmically

 

Buckwette

Though you are dressed in garments of the most elegant nature

You have stepped out of your high heels

And now pad with bare feet like a primitive across the ground

Amongst discarded plastic cups

I like that

 

Buckwette

Though your calves are trim

Though your thighs shapely but yielding

Though your smile is like the chorus of a thousand sparrows at sunrise

Despite all these things

I cannot deny

That your friend

Is nice too.

 

A toast:

To summer time!

 

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