Prima facie

Frans Snyders, Cats fighting in a larder

So myche newe makyng, and so madd tyme spente ;

—John Skelton, "Speke Parrot" (1521)

If I were to write an autobiographical novel

Like Kundera's Unbearable Lightness of Being,

Would you read it? Rather racy in its bent,

Contemplating yesterday in a prima facie way,

It wouldn't bother with tomorrow or today,

Merely illuminate the mad time spent—

All that to-ing and that fro-ing,

All that coming and then going!

What's to be there is no knowing

When a living fossil's set for going;

Just a final seeming, wrapping up its being.

Antiquarian publishers, let me hear from you!

You may be confident I won't make it new.

All I want's the light to write. I've got no kitten in that fight!

Monday, January 12, 2026