Here are a selection of poems written by Patricia Large. Copyright © 1985.
IT’S JUST A KNACK.
To be able to sew,
to knit and to smock.
In the hours of one evening,
to run up a frock.
Oh! to be able,
to do just one of these things.
Will the day never come?
When PIGS have wings.
My two daughters.
People say “Aren’t they alike”,
well, they are to look at.
But really, one is a cherub,
the other a tyke.
Then, when I look at them closely,
I find that they are alike,
and the cherubs’ a tyke.
DOWN ZOO LANE.
No face to fit the old man’s beard,
cold paws for foxy, lost his gloves.
Where’s the connection between dogs and roses?
One must admit, wild flower’s names are weird.
Bullrush, Cowslip, Stinking Ragwort, (what a name),
Ox-eye-daisy and Monkey flower,
Forget-me-not the Cranesbill and Orange Hawkweed.
Am I at the zoo or down a country lane?
Lions’ mane, Glossy, hanging from a strong neck,
So powerful, coat bristling with expectancy,
His body sleek and ever ready to lunge.
To dart, to hide, camouflaged, brown against
brown, black against black, listen! shush! Listen!
Big cats ears prick up. He stiffens, gently
sways with the movement of overhanging boughs.
Dinner is on the way. He swallows hard and licks
his lips. Take a look now. Eyes glint and narrow.