At school they said: ‘Geoffrey,
Be whatever you want to be.
There’s an infinite range of possibilities
in me.
Which must be true as
I’ve itemised
How atomised
I am.
I have 6.5 octillion atoms
Dotted all round and about
So chances are,
I’m must be in with a shout of:
William Shakespeare
And enough monkeys to type Hamlet;
Churchill and all his cigars;
Every mass murderer and all their victims;
Politicians of every hue,
But not their promises
As they have no substance;
Fish and fowl;
Friend and Foe;
Cain and Able;
Abbott and Costello;
My father’s oft clipped toenails,
My mother’s deepest sighs;
But not her hats,
Which remain forever indestructible;
Gladiators and Radiators
And bits of every ex;
Disappointed French masters
And second hand corn plasters;
The dreadful and the damned;
The finest in the land.
Every gender and genre
Must be represented here,
Except perhaps my brother,
For while nature must know best
Even she would draw the line
At atom-based incest.
Like this:
Like Loading...
About TanGental
My name is Geoff Le Pard. Once I was a lawyer; now I am a writer. I've published several books: a four book series following Harry Spittle as he grows from hapless student to hapless partner in a London law firm; four others in different genres; a book of poetry; four anthologies of short fiction; and a memoir of my mother. I have several more in the pipeline.
I have been blogging regularly since 2014, on topic as diverse as: poetry based on famous poems; memories from my life; my garden; my dog; a whole variety of short fiction; my attempts at baking and food; travel and the consequent disasters; theatre, film and book reviews; and the occasional thought piece. Mostly it is whatever takes my fancy.
I avoid politics, mostly, and religion, always. I don't mean to upset anyone but if I do, well, sorry and I suggest you go elsewhere.
These are my thoughts and no one else is to blame. If you want to nab anything I post, please acknowledge where it came from.
TanGental 
Excellent. Food for thought…x
LikeLiked by 2 people
You are what you eat…
LikeLike
🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Best not to think too hard about one’s origins! Just think about the Homo Erectus who one day decided to take a walk towards Sapiens as a result of their newly bigger brain.
I had a boss who used to say about people’s behaviour “It’s just the way they’re made”. So true – much of it is down to just the way the atom cookie crumbles. For both good and bad characteristics.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I can’t help sniggering at Homo Erectus, which sounds like a 1970 Gay porn movie, but that says more about me than your comment so I apologise Gilly
LikeLike
I know, it’s a shame isn’t it – it’s probably ruined many a schoolkids’ education on evolution!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Some people just don’t think these things through
LikeLike
It’s amazing what teenagers will giggle at. I had a lesson once where I was reading something about the Solar System to my science class. When the text started talking about ‘winds around Uranus’ the lesson completely fell to pieces. (I admit, that included myself.)
I’m glad I didn’t need to teach Homo Erectus!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You had an impossible job with that one…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I enjoyed this – the mind takes you to wonderful places populated by atoms!
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s quite a terrifying path; how much of me is Stalin? Fat Boy?
LikeLiked by 1 person
There’s about 8.5 billion atoms in a chromosome, although some have it as 14.4 billion. That is a huge margin for error, or damage, or deviation. No wonder my head hurts! If you wish to delve further, then atoms are made up of hadrons (namely protons and neutrons) and electrons. Hadrons are made up of quarks, held together by a force known as strong force. Strong force is a fundamental mechanism of the universe (much like the law of gravity, another fundamental force) that binds quarks together to form things like protons and neutrons, which in turn form atoms. There, your head hurts too now!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I keep falling asleep at hadrons – did he build walls? Thanks for making such an effort; utterly wasted but i suppose it fills your days…
LikeLiked by 1 person
You got it! May the fourth be with you. Oh no, that was yesterday!
LikeLiked by 1 person
That’s quite a list and with a twist of humor at the end.
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s one of those things that, if you think about it too hard, it could drive you mad
LikeLike
A great lesson in atom agglomeration
LikeLiked by 2 people
Is that a thing?
LikeLiked by 1 person
No I made it up.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Surely not!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re made of 100 percent recycled materials!
LikeLiked by 2 people
And I’m beautiful as a result !
LikeLike
Brilliant, Geoff, especially the ending. I’ll bet your brother is relieved.
LikeLiked by 2 people
He’s not commented which I tale as a positive
LikeLike