EXASPERATION

[So now, let's have YOUR list.]

I've made an uncompleted list
Of things that never would be missed ...
Raindrops that spatter all over my glasses,
Grime on my hands when I'm cleaning the brasses,
Trays that won't balance and fall off my knee:
These are the things that exasperate me.

Clingfilm that I cannot peel off my fingers,
Someone who says "I MUST go" and then lingers,
Gourmets who gobble their garlic with glee:
These are the things that exasperate me.
The fork in the bowl when I've washed up the dishes,
Small bones that linger in fillets of fishes,
Folk who drop sugar lumps into my tea:
These are the things that exasperate me.

Items tight sealed into hard plastic blisters,
Bags that are fastened with little wire twisters,
Long traffic queues whose end I cannot see:
These are the things that exasperate me.
Other folks' dogs who dig holes in my garden,
Visiting cats who do things I can't pardon,
Thorns in my fingers I feel but can't see:
These are the things that exasperate me.

Buttons in sets that have one button missing,
People at weddings who go around kissing,
Finding I'm shut in the car with a bee:
These are the things that exasperate me.
Children in playgrounds who scream and keep fighting,
Words that won't come or won't rhyme when I'm writing,
People who are what I wish I could be:
These are the things that exasperate me.

Phone bells that ring and won't let me ignore them,
People who ask me to write verses for them,
Folk who say "Shakespeare? Do tell, who was he?"
These are the things that exasperate me.
Those who make money when writing for profit,
A book written badly that puts me right off it,
Folk who are tiresome - in fact, just like me:
These are the things that exasperate me.

When the sun shines, when the bird sings,
When good news has come,
I think of the things that exasperate me,
And I go on feeling - glum.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~