Naming of Parts
Henry Reed
"Vixi duellis
nuper idoneus
Et militavi non
sine glori"
Today we have
naming of parts. Yesterday,
We had daily
cleaning. And tomorrow morning,
We shall have
what to do after firing. But today,
Today we have
naming of parts. Japonica
Glistens like
coral in all of the neighboring gardens,
And
today we have naming of parts.
This is the
lower sling swivel. And this
Is the upper
sling swivel, whose use you will see
When you are
given your slings. And this is the piling swivel,
Which in your
case you have not got. The branches
Hold in the
gardens their silent, eloquent gestures,
Which in our case we have not got.
This is the
safety-catch, which is always released
With an easy
flick of the thumb. And please do not let me
See anyone using
his finger. You can do it quite easily
If you have any
strength in your thumb. The blossoms
Are fragile and
motionless, never letting anyone see
Any
of them using their finger.
And this you can
see is the bolt. The purpose of this
Is to open the
breech, as you see. We can slide it
Rapidly
backwards and forwards: we call this
Easing the
spring. And rapidly backwards and forwards
The early bees
are assaulting and fumbling the flowers:
They call it easing the Spring.
They call it
easing the Spring: it is perfectly easy
If you have any
strength in your thumb: like the bolt,
And the breech,
and the cocking-piece, and the point of balance,
Which in our
case we have not got; and the almond-blossom
Silent in all of
the gardens and the bees going backwards and forwards,
For
today we have naming of parts.
return to poetry index
|
return to things
they carried index