My Poem: The Old Guard: The Battle Axe Quatern: Gen

Title: The Battle Axe Quatern
Fandom: The Old Guard
Characters: Andy & Nile
Poetic Form: quatern
Length: 97
Rating: Gen

the handle of the battle axe
is wrapped in leather, though years tax,
the coiled strap wears, is shed, renewed
like supple skin, its texture shrewd

extension of the arm, like wax,
the handle of the battle axe
is shaped by grip which, over time,
has left its marks in battle grime

as treachery and greed unfold
falls into grasp unfit to hold
the handle of the battle axe
yet history does not relax

a newborn warrior seizes day
recovers arm and gains the fray
returns with honor, proud, not lax,
the handle of the battle axe

Poet's Corner: The Terrible People by Ogden Nash

The Terrible People by Ogden Nash

People who have what they want are very fond of telling people who haven't what they want that they really don't want it,
And I wish I could afford to gather all such people into a gloomy castle on the Danube and hire half a dozen capable Draculas to haunt it.
I dont' mind their having a lot of money, and I don't care how they employ it,
But I do think that they damn well ought to admit they enjoy it.
But no, they insist on being stealthy
About the pleasures of being wealthy,
And the possession of a handsome annuity
Makes them think that to say how hard it is to make both ends meet is their bounden duity.
You cannot conceive of an occasion
Which will find them without some suitable evasion.
Yes indeed, with arguments they are very fecund;
Their first point is that money isn't everything, and that they have no money anyhow is their second.
Some people's money is merited,
And other people's is inherited,
But wherever it comes from,
They talk about it as if it were something you got pink gums from.
Perhaps indeed the possession of wealth is constantly distressing,
But I should be quite willing to assume every curse of wealth if I could at the same time assume every blessing.
The only incurable troubles of the rich are the troubles that money can't cure,
Which is a kind of trouble that is even more troublesome if you are poor.
Certainly there are lots of things in life that money won't buy, but it's very funny -
Have you ever tried to buy them without money?