The Argos Catalogue is our holiest book
Oh the Argos catalogue is our holiest
book.
And if you don't believe me, you should
take a closer look.
It's for all ages, for all classes.
It's not snobbish, it's not tribal.
Fifteen hundred coloured pages all much
brighter than the bible.
Laid out in useful sections, page after
page it seems
Can bring us the material to realise
our dreams.
Here the dreaming bold explorer can
wrestle nature's rages
With anoraks and wind-proof tents in ten
full-colour pages.
And the young girl who is blossoming
imagine she's a queen
Wearing ear rings, nose and toe rings
and everything between.
The toddler and pensioner can dream
they're bully boys
With bicycles and tricycles or shining
techno toys.
There's pages and pages of things you'd
love at school
And a tiny, shiny mobile that will make
you feel so cool.
And the spotty adolescent can imagine
he's a stud
With that so-cool leather jacket and
that holder for his “Bud”.
There's potions, and there's lotions,
and perfumes from afar
That will help convince your lover just
how beautiful you are.
There's things to make life better no
matter what you do
Every page turned is a promise there
can be a better you.
Oh the layout it is tawdry. And the
text is rather naff
But that need n't be a worry. It's the
things that we must have.
Yes there's really something holy in
pages such as these
We're so simple and so innocent and
such easy folk to please.
And a dream that things can
change you's not as stupid as it seems
For us fragile human beings are as
fragile as our dreams.
I think I wrote this when I was church warden. And if any job is likely to make you despair of religion, it is that. Anyway there is still something innocent, and childlike, and even admirable in the hope we put in getting new things. Experience tells us it won't help, but who learns from experience?
Anyway the ebooks are nearly ready so more news of them soon.
Nick
Sorry I've failed to get a poem up for a few weeks. I've been away and came home to find my boiler and my septic tank didn't work any more.