The Answer

Bill has left his house of clay,
Slammed the door and gone away:
How he laughed but yesterday!

I had two new jokes to tell,
Salty, but he loved them well:
Now I see his empty shell.

Poker-faced he looks at me;
Peeved to miss them jokes – how h
Would have belly-laughed with glee!

He gives me the pip, I swear;
Seems just like he isn’t there:
Flown the coop – I wonder where?

Bill had no belief in “soul”;
Thought the body was the whole,
And the grave the final goal.

Didn’t reckon when we pass,
This old carcass maybe has
Spirit that sneaks out like gas.

“Look here, Bill, I’m asking you
What’s the Answer? Tell me true:
Is death the end of all we do?

“Hand me out the dope – are we
No more than monkeys on a tree?”
… And then I swear to God I see
Bill bat an eye and – wink at me.

(2 votes, average: 2.50 out of 5)

Our Pote A pote is sure a goofy guy; He ain’t got guts like you or I To tell the score; He […]...

Bill's Prayer I never thought that Bill could say A proper prayer; ‘Twas more in his hard-bitten way To cuss and swear; […]...

Gypsy Jill They’re hanging Bill at eight o’ clock, And millions will applaud. He killed, and so they have to kill, Such […]...

A Better Answer Dear Chloe, how blubbered is that pretty face; Thy cheek all on fire, and thy hair all uncurled! Prithee quit […]...

Bill 'Awkins “‘As anybody seen Bill ‘Awkins?” “Now ‘ow in the devil would I know?” “‘E’s taken my girl out walkin’, An’ […]...

Danse macabre Death came to me in a mini skirt As skittish as a kitten, And said : ” I am come […]...

The Reckoning It’s fine to have a blow-out in a fancy restaurant, With terrapin and canvas-back and all the wine you want; […]...

Answer THE WARMTH of life is quenched with bitter frost; Upon the lonely road a child limps by Skirting the frozen […]...

Sonnet 34 – With the same heart, I said, I'll answer thee With the same heart, I said, I’ll answer thee As those, when thou shalt call me by my name- Lo, […]...

A Three-Part Song I’m just in love with all these three, The Weald and the Marsh and the Down country. Nor I don’t […]...

The Sum-Up It is not power and fame That make success; It is not rank or name Rate happiness. It is not […]...

Bill's Grave I’m gatherin’ flowers by the wayside to lay on the grave of Bill; I’ve sneaked away from the billet, ’cause […]...

An answer to Various Bards Well, I’ve waited mighty patient while they all came rolling in, Mister Lawson, Mister Dyson, and the others of their […]...

Sestina I wandered o’er the vast green plains of youth, And searched for Pleasure. On a distant height Fame’s silhouette stood […]...

My Dentist Sitting in the dentist’s chair, Wishing that I wasn’t there, To forget and pass the time I have made this […]...

Hod Putt Here I lie close to the grave Of Old Bill Piersol, Who grew rich trading with the indians, and who […]...

Sonnet CXXXVI If thy soul cheque thee that I come so near, Swear to thy blind soul that I was thy ‘Will,’ […]...

Hard Luck Ain’t no use as I can see In sittin’ underneath a tree An’ growlin’ that your luck is bad, An’ […]...

My Hero Of all the boys with whom I fought In Africa and Sicily, Bill was the bravest of the lot In […]...

Dunes WHAT do we see here in the sand dunes of the white Moon alone with our thoughts, Bill, Alone with […]...

A Man Young And Old: III. The Mermaid A mermaid found a swimming lad, Picked him for her own, Pressed her body to his body, Laughed; and plunging […]...

The Bees and the Flies “The Mother Hive” Actions and Reactions A Farmer of the Augustan Age Perused in Virgil’s golden page The story of […]...

Think of the Soul THINK of the Soul; I swear to you that body of yours gives proportions to your Soul somehow to live […]...

England's Answer Truly ye come of The Blood; slower to bless than to ban; Little used to lie down at the bidding […]...

The Answer A Rose, in tatters on the garden path, Cried out to God and murmured ‘gainst His Wrath, Because a sudden […]...

The Answer Then what is the answer?- Not to be deluded by dreams. To know that great civilizations have broken down into […]...

Answer Between two nights The brief day. The farm is there. And in the thicket, a snare The hunter set for […]...

In Answer to a Request You ask me for a sonnet. Ah, my Dear, Can clocks tick back to yesterday at noon? Can cracked and […]...

An Answer If all the year was summer-time, And all the aim of life Was just to lilt on like a rhyme […]...

The Answer You have spoken the answer. A child searches far sometimes Into the red dust On a dark rose leaf And […]...

Answer July Answer July Where is the Bee Where is the Blush Where is the Hay? Ah, said July Where is the […]...

Earth's Answer Earth raised up her head. From the darkness dread & drear, Her light fled: Stony dread! And her locks cover’d […]...

Question And Answer he sat naked and drunk in a room of summer night, running the blade of the knife under his fingernails, […]...

As Adam, Early in the Morning AS Adam, early in the morning, Walking forth from the bower, refresh’d with sleep; Behold me where I pass-hear my […]...

UPON LOVE:BY WAY OF QUESTION AND ANSWER I bring ye love. QUES. What will love do? ANS. Like, and dislike ye. I bring ye love. QUES. What […]...

Answer To A Sonnet By J. H. Reynolds “Dark eyes are dearer far Than those that mock the hyacinthine bell.” Blue! ‘Tis the life of heaven,-the domain Of […]...

An Answer to Frances Cornford Why do you rush through the fields in trains, Guessing so much and so much. Why do you flash through […]...

Phantom All look and likeness caught from earth All accident of kin and birth, Had pass’d away. There was no trace […]...

An Answer To The Rebus, By The Author Of These Poems The poet asks, and Phillis can’t refuse To show th’ obedience of the Infant muse. She knows the Quail of […]...

On a Tree Fallen Across the Road (To hear us talk) The tree the tempest with a crash of wood Throws down in front of us is […]...

Related posts: