Le Deluge – 11th September 2022

 Twas the Day of the Sun,

Weather overcast and bleak.

Seven irreplaceable days run,

Cone Man reviewed the last week.

 

The Commonwealth’s Queen died,

Marxists and republicans rejoiced.

“Long live the King” royalists sighed,

Gratitude for her reign realists voiced.

 

New King on the throne,

Old queen’s shadow long.

Dead as a stone,

Her presence still strong.

 

Dying respected by all,

Seven decades of selfless service.

Dying just as Autumn began to fall,

Sad subjects facing wintry ice.

 

Louis XV said: Aprez moi, le deluge.”

Meaning: “After me, the flood.”

After Louis died in 1774, many sort refuge,

From a Europe drenched in blood.

Seeing sundry storm clouds gathering,

Cone Man sadly sighed: “Aprez Liz, le deluge.”

 

© Craig Turney

Cone Ranger – 9th September 2022

 Twas Freya’s Day, Cone Man ranged

About his worksite, checking cones.

Confirming nothing had changed

While he’d rested weary bones.

 

Different cones than found

In Elysian Fields, he sighed.

Pavement he would pound,

Control traffic he tried.

 

Work ranged far and wide,

Many places he would see.

Standing by remote roadside,

Financial freedom was not free.

 

Freedom, nevertheless,

From navel-gazing,

Angst ridden stress,

And bored grazing.

 

Labour leavening boredom,

Senses heightened by danger.

Spare time now a precious freedom,

The lot of the Cone Ranger.

 

© Craig Turney

Cone Man’s Return – 8th September 2022

 Twas Thor’s Day, sunny September day,

Cone Man thanked his God in verse.

Thankful too for a weekly payday,

Filling his meagre purse.

 

Over three years since exile,

From the Great Hall of Wisdom.

Driven all the while,

Suffering dearth, enjoying freedom.

 

Thirty-nine months of ceaseless quest,

Selling, writing, gardening, collecting cans.

What to do? What path was best?

Making plans, ever more plans.

 

“The man that does not work should not eat,”[1]

Counselled Saint Paul the sage.

Cone Man cone-curred, enduring heat,

Labouring beside men half his age.

 

Ironically the standard device,

Ubiquitous in his new profession.

Although using every device,

Cones were their most prevalent possession.

 

© Craig Turney

---

[1] 2 Thessalonians 3:10