You look to me to speak "The Truth",
like I'm some sort of moral sleuth;
in fact, I'm just a tad uncouth,
the product of a misspent youth—
I'm just a muggle.
Now dead folk don't commune with me
and I cannot the future see;
the leaves left over from your tea
do not reveal great mystery—
one skeptic muggle.
I cannot boast a Holy Ghost
within; I'm no compliant host.
No Spirit guides me day to day,
so I just stumble on my way—
a heathen muggle.
But I'd not swap uncertainty
for all the very finest tea
in China, if I had to be
in deference, on bended knee
to someone that I cannot see.
And so, that's it, to you from me—
Your fellow muggle.
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Author Notes
muggle: (n.) a person who lacks a particular skill or skills, or who is regarded as inferior in some way (Oxford English Dictionary).
The meaning given in "The Cabinet" of muggle is "a fish's tail", which apparently dates back to the thirteenth century. However, I like the meaning of the word as portrayed by JK Rowling - a person lacking magical powers, and it is this meaning I've used here.
My much-treasured Christmas present for 2017 is a book by Paul Anthony Jones: "The cabinet of linguistic curiosities". Each page contains a descriptive story about some obscure or archaic word. It occurred to me it would be a fun exercise to try and write, each day, a poem featuring the "word of the day" from the book.
Thanks for reading.
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