David Holbrook - Tables

Two and two are four
Four and four are eight
Eight and eight are sixteen
Repeat! says the Master.
Two and two are four
Four and four are eight
Eight and eight are sixteen

But Look! A Thrush in the sky.
The child hears it,
The child sees it,
The child calls it
Save me!
Play with me Birdie!

So the bird flies down
And plays with the child

Two and two are four
Repeat! says the Master
And the child plays
And the bird plays with him.

Four and four are eight
Eight and eight are sixteen
And sixteen and sixteen
What do they make?
They make nothing
Sixteen and sixteen
And certainly not thirty-two anyway
And off they go.

And the child has caught the bird
in his desk
And all the children hear his song
And all the children hear his music
And eight and eight take turns
And go away
And four and four
And two and two
Go away too
And one and one
Neither make one nor two
One and one go away also
And the Thrush plays
And the child sings
And the Teacher SCREAMS
When you're finished playing the clown!
But all the other children hear the music
And the walls of the class
Quietly crumble
And the windows become sand again
The ink becomes water again
The desks become trees
The chalk white cliffs
The quill
A Bird.


Translation/ Page d'écriture.
Jacques Prévert.

David Holbrook

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/tables/