Goodbye Dickie, Debo and all the Rest

Many now gone

Beyond the veil.

Far too many

To allow.

But there are one

Or two

Hidden from view

I shall regale

You with now.

~~~~~~~~~~

The guns have fallen silent on a career
That I recall for one film with awe;
And it's not that grandee Ghandi,
Beko or Oh! What A Lovely War

Or should that be bore?

You only need one bright star
In the firmament to see
Brilliance from afar —
And that's Guns at Batasi.

It's better than all the others,
Including Brighton Rock.
And for all those liberal brothers
It came as quite a shock

To hear RSM Lauderdale bellow
At the black fellow

And shout at all the rest:
"I have seen Calcutta.

"I have eaten camel dung.
My knees are brown,
My navel is central,
My conscience is clear,
And my will is with my solicitors,
Short and Curly."

It was the best.

You can keep Jurassic Park
And the rest of the sticky
Computer generated lark.
For me it will always be ...

Batasi.

Thank you, Dickie.

~~~~~~~~~~

So Farewell Debo;
You were the last
From that past
Which brought O

M and his wife
(Both whom I knew)
Like the Dodo
To an end

Of that line
Called Mitford
(And Mosley!)
You were fine

When the sword
Was held high;
But now we
Wave goodbye

(As you  sail
Toward Avalon)

Like the Dodo
You go
And glow,
Debo.