Clive James
Today in Castlereagh Street I
Felt short of breath, and here is why.
Antony and Cleopatra swam at Mersa Matruh
In the clear blue shallows.
Imagine the clean sand, the absence of litter —
Advertisements asked ‘Which twin has the Toni?’
Our mothers were supposed to be non-plussed.
Dense paragraphs of technical baloney
Explained the close resemblance of the phoney
To the Expensive Perm. It worked on trust.
The leaves of Tower Bridge are rigged to open
For any taxi I might chance to catch.
They say that when the ravens leave the Tower
Reliable Essays by Clive James & Even As We Speak by Clive James
by Don Anderson •
If T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound
Came back to life, again it would be found
One had the gab, the other had the gift
And each looked to the other for a lift ...
Once an Australian: Journeys with Barry Humphries, Clive James, Germaine Greer and Robert Hughes edited by Ian Britain
by Philippa Hawker •