He read The Ilyiad at 14
He read The Ilyiad at 14
Not once but thrice I had to blink
I said that just ain’t possible
Were you mad with nothing else offering?
Surely there must have been other
Easier books to attempt
Like Robinson Crusoe or Moby Dick?
What?! You also read the Odyssey?!!
And did you say The Old Man and The Sea?
You understood that drab and dull journey
Into the mind of a marlin and an old fisherman
Hemingway himself would have clap his hand
I feel so ashamed I have to say
I never even finished The Lord of The Rings
And yes it’s true I barely could
Finish The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe!
What’s up with that?
What’s wrong with me?
That despite my reading habit
These tomes I dare not reach
Do I still think I can teach
Secondary school lit
One day when I retire if
I’ve never even read those classics?
Will you teach me young man
How to sit for two weeks like you did
Skipping school. Sitting cool.
Just reading. And reading. And reading?
Had I that determination that gumption
Playing truant from everything and then some
Just to lie on a hammock or by a brook
Reading. Reading. Reading.
The Ilyiad
The Odyssey
The Old Man and
The Sea!
