188 • Family ties

188 • Family ties

At birth I was joined to my twin
Not by bones, nor shared organs, nor skin,
But this broad ginger beard
Which still dangles, unsheared,
’Twixt her beauteous cheeks and my chin.

I realise there could be objections to this rhyme, and I wish to pre-empt them by explaining that, in a perfect world, my first choice would have been the strong past participle ‘unshorn’ in place of ‘unsheared’; but in this Philistine age the writer who seeks to keep such charming archaisms alive is all-too often ostracised as some kind of a freak.

4 thoughts on “188 • Family ties

  1. I am glad to hear you are ginger, because in the wise words of Tim Minchin, ‘only a ginger may call another ginger ginger’.

    1. Hi Loris,

      You speak the truth of course, and I don’t want to mislead. It’s my sister Maria who is ginger, not me. We’ve established by various experimental procedures that our beard is essentially growing from her side, not mine. My proper, cranial hair is a sort of brown, dark brown maybe, hard to tell from this angle. Thanks for leaving your e-address here: maybe I can send you a snap and you’ll see what I mean?

      Rick

  2. Typical Minchin though isnt it, think hes and authrouity of every thing. Keep your own mini chin out of other peoples buisness.

    1. Hi Cosmo,

      It’s good to have readers commenting, and I’m glad to see that the great majority do so in a civilised and thoughtful manner.

      Good wishes,
      Richard

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