Had I been born in Germany in 1945,

Had my mum been Marie-Antoinette,

Had I been trapped, champing at the bit,

Pulling Pharaoh’s chariot further into the flood.

Had I been a Neanderthal or a dinosaur,

I might have experienced before

This burning in the ears, lowering of demeanour,

Well and truly caught with trousers down.

x

I must admit the knickers are the mistress’s

As I now seek my face in vain;

Not so much robbed of esteem

As made aware that it has been confiscated

Along with my dignity, my influence, my station.

The ancestors are ashamed of me,

And what am I to stand on? Not a leg,

And not a shred of anything resembling mitigation.