By: Mike Temkin
Introduction by the author: Ever since first being introduced to Lewis Carroll’s “Alice In Wonderland” I have somehow always remained mesmerized by the characters in the book, entranced by The Mad Hatter, fascinated by The White Rabbit and frightened as well as frustrated beyond comprehension by The Queen Of Hearts.
One of my favorite parts of the book is when Alice finds “The Looking Glass Book” and discovers the poem “Jabberwocky.”
“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!
The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!
Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun
The frumious Bandersnatch!”
A little bit of nonsense for some, word play for others. Some people might even say it is pure gibberish. Whichever it might mean for you, in the spirit of Jabberwocky I offer my small contribution to this slight but sublime slice of literature with a piece entitled “Bye And Bye.” Somewhat cynically satirical, hopefully humbly humorous, possibly feebly funny; in these days with so many decisions to make about crucial facts, formulas as well as so many other serious concepts, theories and crucial historical tippy points to evaluate, I hope this piece offers a moment of relief and relaxation, but still with a touch of revelation to consider and joviality to enjoy.
BYE AND BYE
In Bialystock and in Biarritz
and even unexpectedly in Biak,
there was no sign of surprise.
No shock was felt.
No eyebrow was lifted.
No gasp was faintly heard.
The biweekly meeting of
The Bilinguists For A Bilateral Bikini
had come to Biloxi
to discuss the biodegradable wisdom
of a man named Bias.
Bicycles were parked
Bicarbonate was served
and the bickering was undeniably
biauricular.
A biddy from the uptown bistro
and a bigamist from the downtown bijou
were heard speaking in a foreign binary code;
incomprehensible to all but Binet and Bizet,
twins born out of a cell of fission,
which led to confusion,
but that’s another bizarre story
of binate and bipartite.
At the end of a beautifully bisymmetrical room
stood a podium.
A simply built bipod resembling either
a biga or a bilander, depending on which biangular you favored.
And on this bilith of a stage
stood a Bicorn.
A mean-looking creature
worthy of every myth and legend.
Biflexing his bicep in a most convincing manner
he smiled across the room
at men wearing bifocals
who could clearly see his shining bicuspid
from wherever they sat.
The hideous monster, a bicentric eccentric
stood silent
for what seemed like a biennium.
You could have bisected the tension
With a biradical blade.
As he began to speak,
he stared at the men
in the same manner in which he talked; purely bifacial.
“Before I discuss Biadice,
a lovely young lady
in an ambidextrous sort of way, Let us first win the biathlon.”
“Dare we not count our victories
before they are won, or our
bicuspids before they have cut
the gums and chewed the fat.”
“Oh, forgive me but I cannot
wait another biweekly.
I must confess,
she wore a bicorne
months before they were chic.
Why, years before they were sold out.
In fact, decades before they remained
remainders.
And it stayed on her head and covered
her waxen hair throughout the next
biquarterly change into the bimonthly
updates of bimodal fashion.”
“She looked
so bidirectional,
so biaxial,
so biannual!
How could I possibly know which end was up?”
“And then I saw her face in the silvery
light of my Bianchini.
My own little crater up in moonlight bay.”
“I was beyond repair. Beyond remorse.
And way beyond my bijection,
which was thoroughly documented in small print
in the attached bilinear warranty.”
“She said,
‘If only we could binate.
A boy for you and a girl for me.’
Yes, of course. Binchois and Bichat.”
“How bipartisan it all sounded.
If only she and I could have agreed
on the binomial theorem.”
“But no,
every life must be bifoliate.
And as I reach the bifurcate in the road,
I can see my path is no different.”
“So gentlemen,
I shall see you
along the binal borders of life.
Until then,
may your dreams be duplicates,
and your bygones
be bye and bye.”
About Mike Temkin: Upon retiring from a career in advertising/marketing in 2022, Mike Temkin has attended and thoroughly enjoyed a variety of courses at OLLI/ASU including a number of courses related to Poetry by Rosemarie Dombrowski. Mike also compiles a newsletter available on Linkedin, Facebook, Substack and Medium entitled "Thoughts And Observations" which each month provides an overview of topics examined by leaders from all walks, vocations and disciplines of life. Recent subjects have included: Meditation/Mindfulness, Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning, Mental Health, Homelessness, Mentoring, Loyalty, Intersectionality, Leadership, Climate Change, Cybersecurity, Gun Violence/Gun Rights/Gun Safety, Critical Thinking and Sustainability
Photo Credit: Masked Apples, Rene Magritte
