"Providence", said a Pig !

A salutary tale !

The past summer had been long and incongruously hot

still I played every game, though my score remained nought 
yet despite that empty feeling,  like when you've lost the lot,
I remained steadfast in the hope of one final, productive shot!

But with the very last match, providence brought
those longed for scoring runs, so eagerly sought
then after, straight to an ale house caring not a jot
of my betrothed elsewhere waiting, like the lady of Shallot!

As that previous day, a fine wedding ring I had bought
hand crafted and embossed with a jewel, expertly wrought 
my intention to propose at a well known lover's spot,
a place where each evening, we would meet at precisely 8 o'clock!

But too much booze and bravado, mixed together in a pot 
are quite often the undoing of many an honorable plot,
so later that night, swaggering down a road I knew not
I tripped over my boot lace, which had not been tied taut!

Tumbling head first into a ditch,  like a clumsy clot
I lay there cursing, precarious and distraught,
then a passing pig sat down beside me, in the grime and the grot
and with a look of disdain,  it spoke to me rather snooty and snot!

"Providence can elevate a man, or reduce him to squalor and rot
just as a drunken fool's efforts, invariably amount to naught 
and no lady of principal would marry a man who can't tie a knot,
so if I were you, I'd give these matters some pragmatic thought!"

Then it slowly got up and made off in a pompous, prancing trot, 
leaving me to mull over a lesson,  sagaciously taught
and since this immodest encounter, defiling and fraught
to this very day the wise counsel of the Pig, I have never forgot !

 

Reviews

[Einstein Noodle]

ahahahaha i love it Tom ..what a marvelous tale of men caught in a swale ... to the pig all hail .. tho a drunkard may rale ... this hero didn't fail ... to the pig's wisdom avail ... your poem's experience lifts me ol' heart .. there is hope for us fools after all and the ol' dog can learn ... fine story telling .. and very fine rhyme scheme success ... glad I found this one sir!
E.

[Tom]

Coolio, oink, oink, and who denies not just the brilliance, but the sufferance of the much maligned Pig!

[Einstein Noodle]

indeed ... max malignement :)))))))))))

[Joyce S. Greene]

Guess your speaker got exactly what he deserved, Ton! He did a dastardly deed and ended up in a ditch with a pig preaching to him. Hope this woke him up a bit and he did a turn-around - otherwise that ring will have been bought for "nought" as well! I love the scenarios you come up with and your light-hearted story-telling style. Delightful and charming poetry!

[Tom]

thank you Joyce and yes indeed, I do enjoy telling a bit of a yarn !!

[Marie]

This seemed to start out as another poem about cricket. I never expected it to end in the ditch.

[Tom]

When the drinks in Marie, the ditch was the most appropriate place in this instance I reckon...don't You ? And thanks as always for stopping by !

[Sami Khalil]

That was a wonderful story where you fell in a ditch in filth and snot and the pig talking to you giving you some advices on relationships and marriage. I felt some humor and truth in this imaginative or could be realistic to see a pig talk when you are drunk...A splendid poem...:)...........

[Tom]

Thank you Sami and Indeed anything's possible when the drinks in the wits out !

[Sami Khalil]

You are welcome...:)......................

[Lyn Anderson]

Very clever. Lovely turn of verse. A thoughtful piece.

[Tom]

Thank you KL !

[jacob erin-cilberto]

this is like revisiting "Animal Farm"

the animals much smarter than the humans...they are in control, we aren't.

jacob

[Tom]

I haven't read animal farm though my all intents there are similarities ! Thank you Jacob