Joseph Kitson
By Joseph Kitson
Basil Bernstein, famous linguist, lies dead
His world famous mind is now unread
He taught elaborate code we simpletons to debate
Without isogambling it.s a matter of state
He joined Viktor Frankl for a revel or two
Dancing past concepts in a world only they knew
Pope Pius XII was theocratically appalled
There was danger in the manger from the chavs and thralls.
Universal education is certainly a mess
To the priest we don.t know whether to bless or to confess
The state is in ruins, capitalist bourgeois it is called
Surely, godamit, there can't be a second fall?
We live in the winter surrounded by art
Which love can derange with a little dosh from the mart
Basil had a stammer and Viktor a fart
They caused a revolution in manners like Sartre.
The war of all against all, with selfishness done
Tiny words against long ones with fear on the run
Hate like pain was abolished by Big Brother and Co
In Budapest, Bucharest and seedy Moscow
But time's not a chemical so we're freed from the past
We spend hours looking for A-bombs to obviate their blast
Dyslexia is dying of poison and malice and false friends
It tends to be loveable but bucks all the trends
Signing off now, my toast and tea to make
Books, disks and lectures you should never forsake
Chess and soccer are groovy signs of the times
Can the wisdom of crowds match Shakespeare's rhymes? 
Page(s) 33
magazine list
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- Second Aeon
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- Shearsman
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- Staple
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- Tabla Book of New Verse, The
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