Bohemia Village Voice

[From ‘Bohemian Bagatelle‘, published 1979 by the Bohemians]

RYE FOR CHILDREN, 1950

This is the place to be inquisitively young

Where mill bewitched with arms upflung

A great square window-space inhabits

Day in, day out,

And every quarter hour about

The jolly little train

With cracked expectant whistle-song

Chuff-chuffs its flickering way along

And seawards gives a shout;

Where sheep unaccountable come jogging by

All suddenly to captivate the eye,

And speckled ducks in grand array

Sail the canal ten times a day.

Marjorie Cole