Poems by Katherine Mansfield
Jangling Memory
Jangling Memory
Heavens above ! here's an old tie of yours—
Sea-green dragons stamped on a golden ground.
Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! What children we were in those days !
Do you love me enough to wear it now ?
Have you the courage of your pristine glories ?
Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! You laugh and shrug your shoulders.
Those were the days when a new tie spelt a fortune :
We wore it in turn—I flaunted it as a waist-belt.
Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! What easily satisfied babies !
“I think I'll turn it into a piano duster.”
“Give it to me, I'll polish my slippers on it !”
Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! The rag's not worth the dustbin.
“Throw the shabby old thing right out of the window;
Fling it into the faces of other children !”
Ha ! Ha ! Ha ! We laughed and laughed till the tears came !
1911.