DICKENS BY MY SIDE

I often sit with Charles
And chew the distant fat,
About foggy London back streets
Urchins, vagabonds and all of that.
Watched aghast as the gallows swung
And snapped old Fagins scrawny neck,
Laughed at theTuggs of Ramsgate
Whilst they staggered around the ships deck.
I've met Pip and the enigmatic Estella
Drank porter with old Pumblechook,
Sailed the Thames with Magwitch
Lunched with Pickwick while reading his book.
I've often sailed the seas to America
Found fortune there with Nickelby,
Owed the debt of little Dorrit
And struggled in the gloom of Marshelsea.
I didn't like old Seth Pecksniff
And I warned young Chuzzlewit,
Maybe I should go and ask Nancy 
To get her Bill Sykes to deal with it.
Of course I could call on Sam Weller
And stroll in the Kent countryside,
But, he's trying to catch the wily Jingle
Who's chicanery spreads far and wide.
I've known these characters an age
In well thumbed books since a boy,
I've met every kind of Englishman
Thank you Charles for bringing such joy.

Phil Hall  October 2014

Copyright:Philthepoet61.blogspot.com 

Photograph: Phil Hall 2017 (Well thumbed)