Yul not have heard of Chang and Eng
(‘The King and I’ as some have joked),
for nation’s pair, twins, Siamese,
boys tied at birth, condition named,
though if today, ‘conjoined’ as Thai.
They married sisters, lived for years,
gave birth more twenty, ribaldry;
like Bedlam, strangeness unexplained,
exotic terms from cruder age,
those different, odd, deemed circus show.
With modern medicine, such unknown,
though fifty past, remember well.
What mystery, shared body parts -
whose sibling rivalry in charge?
If one would dance, the other must.
Great original subject for the pairs theme. Mind boggling the practicalities. Can’t believe I missed Yul till about the third reading!
The elements at first glance seem diverse,. Yet quickly knit and reveal a novel take on things..
I particularly , like Martin, enjoyed, the 'King and I' reference, I immediately heard the word etcetera, etcetera, etcetera!
As always I love your clever wordplay and historical references. Made me think about the way words are changed to reflect changing attitudes - Siamese/Conjoined/Thai. Plus I love The King and I
I’m sorry, it may be merely my octogenarian status,, but bund the first poem,”Paired, Paired” ( I couldn’t bring myself to read the others)), to be quite unintelligible. Is the writer hope to emulate “Jabberwoky”Lewis Carroll’s.famous nonsense,poem.
I hope I,am not thr only reader who found to be ciffivullt to know what it is sll snout.