What we had, Paul,
at Long Beach Grand Prix,
Was a Failure to Communicate

But Paul,
If I’d had the chance
I would have told you
Straight out
That it was me,
not Elizabeth Taylor,
Who was Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
And when you spoke to her
With your deep south
Brooding drawl,
I drawled right back at you
And Hud, Paul
You
As Hud,
The man with the barbed wire soul
If I were Patricia Neal
I’d have sung that song for ye
After lovin Hud liked fightin’ best….
After fightin’ Hud liked lovin’best

And Paul,
When Dragline
Peeled those eggs
And forced
Fifty of them
Down your throat,
I swallowed every
Damn one of
Them.
I was right there beside you
My
Cool Hand Luke

And, another thing,
it was me,
Not Katherine Ross,
who sat in
Butch Cassidy’s
front carrier,
Cycling the yard
Just the two of us,
While Raindrops fell
On the Sundance Kid

And I’ve never wavered in
My affection, Paul
Not once

Not even when you fixed me,
The Man with the Most Famous Blue Eyes in the World,
With a I-couldn’t-care-less-about-you-stare
At the Long Beach Grand Prix

But Paul,
We could have talked of all these things

And had a laugh
About it all
If we’d had the chance

So maybe next time
You’re in Bray,
Call in,

Just for the Fun of it,
Have some tea,
We’ll make up for lost time
Like the old friends
That we are

Maeve Edwards
June 2006 Dublin Unitarian Church