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Your support makes all the difference."Forget the Sixties," says Prince Charles.
I do, but not entirely so.
A ghost still walks the battlements
Of castles that I used to know
And, leering, leads me by the ear
To one carbuncle where I went -
A London comprehensive school,
All concrete pillars, glass, cement,
With covered way, which to this day
I still remember for the chill
When icy winter winds whipped through
To make the waiting children ill
And freeze their legs to mottled pegs
And peck the ears and chafe them raw
While girls in skirts and boys in shirts
Too thin, cursed, shivering, by the door.
The architect, warm at his desk,
Had obviously done his best
To make this funnel for the wind
To wield its scythe from east to west.
Three decades on, a law case looms.
The trouser ban: a mother fights
Some antiquated dress-code rule
Insisting girls wear skirts and tights.
Perhaps the governors of the school,
Themselves in regulation skirts,
Should hold their meetings in the cold
Until they see how much it hurts.
"Forget the Sixties," says Prince Charles,
That spangled psychedelic haze
Of sex and drugs and groovy scenes.
Well, he should know about those days:
The soldiers' tunics, coloured robes,
The wacky gear he used to wear,
Those hunting pinks and riding hats -
He absolutely didn't care!
This Thursday's Indie, on page four,
Claimed socks in bed may help you sleep.
I flirted with this concept once
And thought about it long and deep.
Extensive research tells us though,
Traditionally it's bad for sex.
And backing up my findings here,
A woman friend (who's now my ex).
A business trip to foreign climes
Reportedly endangers life.
We live in such precarious times,
With kidnapping and murder rife,
That many are the countries now
Where danger dogs the traveller's trip.
In spite of this, we doughty Brits
Set out with hope on plane or ship
And go wherever commerce calls
To meet with danger, unimpressed.
If Virgin trains can't break a man,
What chance have any of the rest?
Another day, another lecture.
What is it this time? Architecture?
"All right, all right," the writer snarls.
I heard you once. I'm doing my best.
It's just... Ken Kesey's Acid Test
Came rolling back to town of late
And now the buildings all look great.
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