Amongst other more profound one-line advices that had made me famous
When people passed them on in inns and hostelries across the land,
If I had suggested, a thousand years ago, that everyone should
When people passed them on in inns and hostelries across the land,
If I had suggested, a thousand years ago, that everyone should
Travel by the swiftest available means of transport
Rather than waste their lives on the journey
Rather than waste their lives on the journey
It is likely those who took my advice
Would travel on horseback,
As, indeed, would I.
Would travel on horseback,
As, indeed, would I.
And as would be noticed,
By a hang-around scribe.
______
By a hang-around scribe.
______
After my death,
To make a few quid
The hang-around scribe
Expands the few snippets
Of common sense I had used
To draw attention to flaws in the
System in to a first-hand biography.
To make a few quid
The hang-around scribe
Expands the few snippets
Of common sense I had used
To draw attention to flaws in the
System in to a first-hand biography.
His version of me picked up a good following
So others, too, wrote their expansions of my story.
So others, too, wrote their expansions of my story.
But common sense is unexciting and soon assimilates into
Everyday life and the relevance of whence it came diminishes.
______
Everyday life and the relevance of whence it came diminishes.
______
Turn the clock forward to just a hundred and fifty years ago. I am history.
______
______
Scribes are ten-a-penny now and one decides to make his own fortune by rewriting
The long forgotten story of me, updating it to make it relevant for a modern readership.
______
______
The long forgotten story of me, updating it to make it relevant for a modern readership.
______
______
If I had suggested a hundred and fifty years ago that everyone should
Travel by the swiftest available means of transport
Rather than waste their lives on the journey
Rather than waste their lives on the journey
It is likely those who took my advice
Would travel by steam train
As, indeed, would I,
_____
Would travel by steam train
As, indeed, would I,
_____
The Victorian usurper of my reputation, however,
Wrote that everyone should travel only by
Steam train on the routes he was the
Owner of and made his fortune.
Wrote that everyone should travel only by
Steam train on the routes he was the
Owner of and made his fortune.
He died a very rich man,
As did his inheriting sons
Until
The age of steam died, too.
_____
As did his inheriting sons
Until
The age of steam died, too.
_____
It is century 21 now, according to local convention,
And my advice would be the same as it always has been,
That everyone should
And my advice would be the same as it always has been,
That everyone should
Travel by the swiftest available means of transport
Rather than waste their lives on the journey.
Rather than waste their lives on the journey.
It is likely those who took my advice today
Would ride bicycles and motorcycles,
Drive cars and lorries and ride
In buses and on trains
Of any kind, on
Aeroplanes,
In boats
Would ride bicycles and motorcycles,
Drive cars and lorries and ride
In buses and on trains
Of any kind, on
Aeroplanes,
In boats
As, indeed, would I
According to the
Journey I
Took.
______
Journey I
Took.
______
So why would anyone now
Be limited to travel only by horse
Because it is what a scribe wrote
I had done a thousand years ago?
Because it is what a scribe wrote
I had done a thousand years ago?
And why would anyone now
Be wrestling with their inner conscience
As to whether to only travel by train
To only travel by steam train
Or not to travel at all
Because the old
Routes have
Closed
Or,
Worse,
Moved into
Public ownership
For the benefit of all?
As to whether to only travel by train
To only travel by steam train
Or not to travel at all
Because the old
Routes have
Closed
Or,
Worse,
Moved into
Public ownership
For the benefit of all?
And why would anyone now
Be killing anyone in my name
Over a mode of transport
Or route they choose
To achieve their
Destination?
______
Over a mode of transport
Or route they choose
To achieve their
Destination?
______
Where on earth
Would be the
Sense in that?
Would be the
Sense in that?
© Po 2014
