Thursday, June 23, 2011

The appeal of a Jug of Punch

Photo: 123rf
When I grew up in the sixties, folksinging was everywhere. I walked around town with my hand-made Mallorcan guitar slung across my back by an embroidered shoulder strap. Like other folkies, I was ready to sit down anywhere to sing and play.

The Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem were very popular and I learned their songs from a little green book I still have somewhere downstairs.

One favourite was A Jug of Punch.

It was on the twenty-third of June
as I was sitting with my glass and spoon.
A small bird sat on an ivy bunch
and the song he sang was a jug of punch...
In my imaginings, there was no whiskey involved. The jug of punch was made with ginger ale and fruit juice, with maybe some pineapple and orange slices, and a few strawberries for garnish.

It made a lovely picture. Ice cubes clinked in the tasty liquid, and the outside of the chubby glass pitcher was damp with condensation.

Why did the singer want a spoon?

To eat the fruit from the bottom of the glass, of course.

3 comments:

  1. It was on the twenty-third of September
    as I was reading Carol's Blog
    nostalgically I did remember
    folk songs sung on an old beach log
    around the fire
    moonlight choir
    chasing life like a fleeting ember
    as the summer fled
    lead by Autumn's red
    toward the snows of late December
    Folk songs still inspire
    faith, love and desire,
    While still we chase the fleeting ember
    of that long-fled bright September.

    Thanks Carol... you're an inpiration.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wow! Thanks for your comment. Just saw this now.

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  2. Wow, that was a great response!
    Just found it now.
    Just goes to show -- poetry begets poetry.
    Here's a toast to iambic pentameter and rhyme.
    Thanks!
    Carol

    ReplyDelete