Poets’ Corner-

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 175, 14 October 1927, Page 12

Poets’ Corner-

MAN AND BEAST (Written for THE SUN.) On the road the hour grows late, And the grey shades close around As we near the six-foot gate That leads to those far-renowned. Inevitable, ultimate, Dark realms lying underground. From the old gum’s skeleton Comes the wail of the lone owl, Boding, “It will soon be done: You will soon • lie cheek by jowl With the trees, and be at one With the alien beasts and fowl.* 3 And the cows roll their great eyes: And a smile runs through the trees: And the little, darting flies Hold men un for mockeries , Knowing we who now despise Them, must be soon no more than these. R. A. R. MASON. Auckland. JAZZ BAND (Written for THE SUN.) Like Jericho’s walls , A hunk of corrugated iron falls Upon the hall. Cacophonous chords , As drunken plumbers tearing up floorboards, Come hurtling whence, in crescent state The syncopatin’ Satans violate A muse, insatiate. The drummers leap and beat each other’s drums. A banjo strums. A buzz-saw screeches through a tin, Above its din, Whilst trombones brag about abysmal sin, Screams an eviscerated violin. The bassoon gruntsj a startled flute In terror flees the stark sadistic brute. Leering at the pursuit, The saxophones Slobber obscenely, while a 3 cello moans. A Steinway stutters with reproachful strings, A nigger sings. a • * Abashed Immortals turn at such effrontdl In rhythm willy-nilly contrapuntal. The dancers strut, lithe, flat and epicene . Aloof Priapus grins upon the scene, “We’ve no more din, old bean. 3 * J. R. C. Auckland. UNITY I cannot conceive Of any fate more satisfying Than that a man, after this life is past, Should merge once more into the infinite, And live again in countless flowers. That he should speak From out the heart of every stone (Press'd close against the warm and radiant earth); And from each full-blown rose and falling leaf, Send forth his soul into eternity. It would he unity Complete, sublime, With that great source of life beyond the visible; A returning of that which is forever ageless To God, and timeless immortality. —K. M. KNIGHT.