[Jayne Osborn]

A few of the competition topics in various publications have left some of us cold... but I think this looks like a good one
Good luck to you all.

Jayne


The Oldie Competition
by Tessa Castro

Competition no 191
I find I now have to use a magnifying-glass to read the A–Z map, but perhaps I also miss ugly details elsewhere. So please write a poem called ‘What the eye doesn’t see…’ Maximum 16 lines.

Send your entries in by post (The Oldie, 65 Newman Street, London W1T 3EG) or email comps@theoldie.co.uk to ‘Competition No 191 by 26th June. Don’t forget to include your postal address.

[Rob Stuart]

‘What the eye doesn’t see…’ well, we all know the rest,
And it’s incontrovertibly true,
Which is why married men find discretion is best
When they’re picking up bimbos to screw.

Having only the wife, as a red-blooded man,
Is a quite inconceivable thing,
So I thought it judicious to work out a plan
To conceal my occasional fling.

This is what I essay to avoid her dismay
When I bring back some pneumatic slut:
As we get into bed, if she’s wakeful I’ll say
‘Like I told you, love, keep your eyes shut.’

[John Whitworth]

What the Eye Doesn’t See

What the eye doesn’t see
Is the breath of a bee,
As it swings on the cusp of a flower.
What the eyes doesn’t see
Is the snarl of a flea,
As it tears at the prey in its power.
What the eye doesn’t see
Is an ostropod’s knee,
As it swims through a droplet of rain.
What the eye doesn’t see
Is the riddle-me-ree,
Of the great manatee,
Singing chincherinchee,
In the depths of the sea,
Of the sundering sea,
Though it asks you again and again.

[Peter Goulding]

She cannot tell the windows haven’t had their annual clean;
she doesn’t see the weeds and moss, just sees a lawn that’s green.
The paint is very skimpy high up on the bedroom wall –
four years on, I don’t think she has noticed it at all.
Cobwebs on the lampshade? Sure, the lampshade’s just a blur!
The shrubs that line our gutter are invisible to her.
She cannot spot the curtain rail is anything but straight,
nor read the landing smoke alarm is past its use-by date.
She cannot see the tell-tale signs of food stains on my shirt
and only sees the car and not its covering of dirt.
The top shelves of the bookcase get a dusting once a year
and that’s the carpet’s pattern, not a stain caused by spilled beer.
She doesn’t see my hairy ears, the wart upon my bum.
I don’t think that she knows the ugly bastard I’ve become.

Yes, heed this warning, young man, if you want an easy life
and find yourself a nice short-sighted woman for your wife.

[Douglas G. Brown]

A decent person's dog with fleas,
The bottles which are drained to lees,
Dysfunction in good families;
These are the things that no one sees.

Indulgences which bring disease,
The cause of unwed pregnancies,
The homeless begging on their knees;
These are the things that no one sees.

Ecclesiastic liberties,
Attorneys swearing phony pleas,
Officials stealing what they please;
These are the things that no one sees.

The sad conclusion, I have found ...
Denial helps the world go 'round,
Where myriad hypocrisies
Condone the things that no one sees.