(Coleridge and the “visitor from Porlock”)

Where was I? … Ah, yes … Kubla Khan…
Xanadu… something and song…
the River Alf… a pleasure dome…
I wish that fellow had never come…

caverns measureless to man…
where a sacred river ran…
Abyssinian maid… Mount Abora…
Where on earth did that come from?

I should have said I wasn’t home.
Sinuous rills… a mighty fountain…
It’s strange how opium affects the brain.
I hope he doesn’t come again.

A dulcimer and caves of ice…
and drinking milk from paradise…
All very nice, but then? Then what?
I should have kept the front door locked.

Then what? I haven’t got a clue.
Damn holy dread and honey dew.
Damn that fellow and damn Porlock.
Damn waning moon and Xanadu.
Damn demon lover. Damn the lot.

Half a poem won’t earn much money.
Ah well, Dot and Bill

might find it funny.