Poetry Explorer- Classic Contemporary Poetry, GOD-FORGOTTEN, by PETER AIREY


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Classic and Contemporary Poetry

GOD-FORGOTTEN, by                    
First Line: Lies the town of god-forgotten duly west
Last Line: And we'll wonder where the deuce it's gone and how on earth it rose.
Alternate Author Name(s): Luftig, P.; Born, Furness; Flam, Philander
Subject(s): Abandonment; Desolation; Towns; Desertion


LIES the town of God-forgotten duly west,
Sleep the folks in God-forgotten, like the blest,
And the dreary plains that bound it
Sweep their drowsy blast around it
Till you nod and drawl, "Confound it! Let us liquor—let us rest!"

There are pubs in God-forgotten, half a score,
And a few surviving topers prop the door,
And the grog they drink's a query
Quaint compound of potions eerie,
And the casual drunk it smiteth as it smote the drunk of yore.

And they brag how God-forgotten in its prime
Raised a dog-fight in a cursèd fit of crime;
And, though times have waxed pacific,
Still they boast with pride terrific
How "Forgotten was a 'hot-un' and a daisy in her time."

And the God-forgotten men are lank and lean,
Bony scaffolds of the men they might have been;
They're a curious blend of Pawnee
Bullock-puncher, nomad, Sawney,
And they live by swapping lies about the things they haven't seen.

And it blinks, does God-forgotten, through the blaze,
And it winks, does God-forgotten, through the haze
And its eyes are mostly bleary,
And its voice is mostly beery
And its intellect is doting in a chronic state of daze;

And it glares, does God-forgotten, at the skies,
And it frizzles through the summer and it fries,
And you leave its region hearseful
Feeling sad and mad and curseful,
For the fear of God-forgotten is a fear that never dies.

Why they started God-forgotten no one knows,
For it's shunned by all the self-respecting crows,
And some day in sandy distance
It will sink its poor existence
And we'll wonder where the deuce it's gone and how on earth it rose.





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