Conjunctions

Now let us consider  the joining words,
our teachers called conjunctions.
I think they are important words
to link phrases, things, relations.
Thread and knots or stitches
fashion clothes to keep us warm.
Cement, glue, and staples,
dovetails, nails and screws
join furniture to give us rest;
bricks, stone and timber
make homes to keep us safe.

Now let us consider friendship:
chance-met acquaintance,
colleague, lover or kindred,
cherish those connections,
supportive networks;
despite their imperfections,
hold them in affection.
Use roads, railways and tunnels,
seaways and airways
to maintain their fusion.

Whether real or virtual
or even metaphorical,
when joints and links fail,
as seems to happen
on a colossal scale,
the world goes kerflooey
in chaos, conflict and confusion.
Nurture those links
for a happier conclusion.
 

 

Ms Quickly suggests we consider a list poem à la Christopher Smart’s Jubilate Agno.  Years ago I wrote a pastiche of his lines “for let us consider my cat Jeoffrey”  but I can’t find it.  While looking for it I came across a small poem called Conjunctions, which set me off on this track, incorporating bits and bobs from the earlier poem.  I don’t suppose Ms Q will feel that I have obeyed her instruction to play, to be wacky, to rejoice, but I did have fun writing it.  It’s a bit rough and ready, so critique welcome.