FRANK HALLIWELL, HIS THIRD POEM PAGE

A sense of dedication and a little stimulation,
And a bit less hesitation when I face the job at hand...
And I'll win the admiration of the folks around the nation
And I'll be by acclamation, foremost poet in the land!

So there's been a revolution and I've made a resolution
that I'm going to write a little something every single day,
Because fame, in my conclusion will remain just an illusion
Unless I get my finger out and start without delay.

The crescent of an ancient moon above the planet's rim,
Its face illumined by the brilliant sun,
And craters from ten thousand rocks gave it a visage grim,
Suggesting that it be a place to shun.

"Magnification, number one! Let's have a closer look!"
Said the captain as he eased into his chair.
"The colonists were landed here, according to the book,
So scan the place for life with every care!"

"They've had a million years or so to populate the place,
So they may not be so very hard to find.
They had some competition from a rather larger race:
Alien beings of a very different kind!

In only a few seconds then, the screen burst into life,
And the image of a commodore appeared,
"My report is that we prosper, though we've had a little strife
From the giants that our ancestors once feared!"

"We lost millions to the chemicals they broadcast everywhere,
They dealt our kind an almost mortal blow...
'Til they stripped the earth completely, and they fouled the seas and air,
...And they went the way the unresponsive go !"

"So report that we're successful and we've made it our abode,
And a new age for our kind has now begun!
Antennae will wave exitedly to mark this episode
When your ship arrives back home on Cockroach One!"

"Those heads you lead out to the right"... Now we did that so fine,
And grabbed those sides and circled round and broke out to a line...
The caller smiled a wicked smile, he grinned from ear to ear,
"Now make that wave and spin chain thru".. We didn't want to hear!

So we all did a "Stagger back and Blunder thru" at speed
and tried our best to nonchalantly undo the foul deed
And Harry stepped on Sheila, and Mildred broke a strap
And Frank turned up his hearing aid to detect the next trap.

The movements now came thick and fast, he stacked them high and neat,
so in the end, the square lay in a heap at caller's feet,
Despirited, dejected, defeated after all..
Our nemesis now gloated and his laughter filled the hall.

So buy a car from "Honest John", and shake him by the hand,
Trust him with all your savings son, I'm sure he'll treat you grand!
But never trust a caller mate, or treat him as a friend,
Given the opportunity,....He'll get you in the end!

The heading leapt up from the page: "Square dancing's not for squares":
...The western shirts, the crinolines, the happy, laughing pairs...
The memories came in a flood, as clear as yesterday,
From twenty some-odd years ago, and half a world away...

When thursday night meant Barrie, where the "Hayloft Squares" would fly,
I remember my blonde corner, with the twinkle in her eye!
Saturday,..Toronto beckoned through the snow and sleet to me...
That the "Circle-B's" were rockin' in the hall at Bramalea!

The week-ends at the square dance camps in all the summer's heat,
And though the perspiration flowed, the fun was hard to beat!
The "sets in order" on the dock when we forgot to brake...
And when the "spin chain thru" was done, three sets were in the lake!

But times and circumstances change, and from the snow and ice,
I found myself transported hence and set down in a trice
In mysterious Australia where the ancient stories sing
Of the terrifying Bunyip, and the dreaded Pigeon-wing!

But that was in the distant past, so many years ago..
Have I forgotten all of it? I'd really like to know!
Temptation's strong to have a whirl,..I'd like to try,..and yet..
I wonder if it's really true you never do forget?

Out in the back, untouched for years, the boxes are unpacked,
And in the bottom of the last: the square dance clothes I lacked!
Perhaps a half are left complete, the bugs have got the rest,
And most of those intact have shrunk, but few can pass the test!

Ah, there's the hall, ablaze with light! I find a place to park.
The throbbing beat of hoedown drifts inviting in the dark.
So up the stairs and through the door despite lingering fears.
I'm greeted like an old dear friend they haven't seen in years.

The squares are set at Loganlea, I'm really glad I came!
My corner's face is different, but the twinkle's still the same!
I'm just a trifle rusty, but the aim remains sublime:
...To re-create the magic,..in another place and time.