The Boomer BibleA Testament for Our Times · by R. F. Laird

WAYS Chapter 26


The Way of the Brits
Chapter 26
The way of the Frogs is a painting,
2A vision of color and dash,
3Obsessed with an ideal of bbeauty,
4Transcending mere decorative trash.
5Their canvas was open to all shades of life,
6Since a cmaster must quicken the heart,
7So they dipped their brushes in dmyriad pots,
8And astonished the world with their art.
9They captured romance as it breathed through the soul,
10eWhether it ended in love or disaster;
11fThey anointed the body with wisdom and charm,
12And composed lovely scenes of the gsenses at play;
13hThey painted lithe nymphs on pedestals,
14As well as in the ihay,
15Then mixed some wit with morality,
16And in a purely Gallic way,
17Sketched a jlifted eyebrow,
18And the klogic of dismay.
19Yes, they knew how to paint,
20All the colors of lwar,
21And of mpeasants in chains,
22And nvengeance galore.
23They tried out the oblinding light of ambition,
24pThe darkness of wanting endlessly more,
25qThe yellow terror of tropical fevers,
26rThe flickering red of a saint on fire,
27sThe blue and the white of dead armies in snow,
28tThe blackness of hearts when they yield to despair.
29Now, a Frog with a brush may cause you to chuckle,
30And reel off old jokes about uMaginot lines,
31But their art is a model of human resilience,
32And the glory of seeking romance at all times.
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Chapter 26 / 40