Hello, dear darlings! Upon receiving the gloriously ominous news of the reopening of Ma Mayfield's next week, I have proffered my services as a cabaret entertainer! AND, following in dear mummy's footsteps, I have even penned an original number!
This is a little story I call “Zookie's Song”:
Hello boys, my name is Zookie.
I think you know I'm easily led.
I think you've heard that I forsook the chance to get a level head,
and dipped my toes into philosophies of dread.
I think you've heard about my family:
Daddy wrote of Uncle Seb,
And how it ended rather badly in the wastes of the Maghreb,
with an eleventh hour halo on his head.
My mummy, gal about the town.
Word got around of the estate.
It cost her greatly, and I don't think she worked out how to settle down,
before the looking glass confirmed it much too late.
Well, Auntie Dede wrote at Christmas,
Uncle Bridey paid some debts.
As kind as this was, they were strangers and it's easy to forget
that I'm a member of a proud and ancient set.
I see the debs out in the city -
Don't think they're listed in Debretts.
They look so pretty, and so wicked, and so free, and so complex.
Then I try to picture mummy courting Rex.
I watch dusk fall over Putney.
I see the shadows stretch and bend.
Was I so lucky? Did I miss the boat and fall from the pier end,
into the churning, muddy shallows of the Thames?
Jesus Christ, are you still with me?
Curse the darkness of my lens!
Oh please forgive and, if I swear I'll go full Grandad in the end,
Build a Heaven for my friends.
I love you all, my darlings. See you on opening night!
Zookie
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