The Parson's Jig

[dukealien]

.                             The Parson’s Jig,

Preached at the Hare and Hounds One Sunday Afternoon
.    to the Accompaniment of a Pint and a Penny Drum

            Just so you know, here’s how you may go
                to be this happy in your life:
            be one of those people who always feels
                what others are feeling, like my wife.
            They see a fellow who’s down on his luck
                and they hurt with him, no lying,
            so it makes ‘em feel warm when they give him a hand
                and he thanks ‘em, so they keep trying.
            And when they see someone as rich as a lord
                whose property’s all his de-light,
            they think, “Must be nice” but they mean it because
                they can feel it, not just being po-lite.
            So whatever they see, it’s happy they’ll be:
                if they feel bad they fix it, no malice,
            no pining or crying or envious whining
                about someone’s fortune, my Alice!
            And all people like that, those thousands of points
                of light no bushel can smother
            aren’t candles or flames, nor stars or big names
                but reflections of each other -
            not all facing the same like sunflowers that turn
                together to face the sunlight,
            but each in his place, however they face,
                all reflections of the One Light.

Doggerel, perhaps, but it earned him another pint

(think of it as pre-Frantz Fanon rap.)