Since today is the Feast of Stephen, here’s a slightly different take on that walk in the snow.
Paradigms Lost
Moderately Good King Wenceslas
being a Free-Thinker
and not altogether sober
was stirred, but not shaken
at finding himself tripping
over the tangled feet of the Drunk
at his castle gates:
nor was he deaf
to the cry for pity
hanging in the frosty luminance
of a Bohemian night.
He was too humble
too weighed down
by his own sins and sensibilities
to offer his own meagre competence
So he called the Samaritans
(but the line was engaged)
so he called the police
(but they were out at a crime)
so he called the Council
and when he went out the next morning
the pavement was vacant.
Much later
with becoming humility
he breached the Gates of Eden
but was pronounced
Dead on Arrival.
Copyright David Harley 1980
Wheal Alice Music 