Autumn

(with a bit of poetic licence!)

This is the time when nature spreads

in crispy yellows, browns and reds

her carpet on the Convent ground.

Here Sisters take their daily round,

inhale the morning’s freshening air,

exhale their first thanksgiving prayer.

Here within the Convent walls

the kitchen vies with chapel stalls,

comes second to that holy place

where godly nourishment takes place.

But Jennifer our cherished cook

in tireless succour feeds the nook

where godly food can never reach,

no matter how the parsons preach.

Of domesticity the best,

she welcomes with unfailing zest

all Autumn’s fruit, no matter what

the quantity. She takes the lot.

There’s beans, tomatoes, marrows too,

all kinds of veg. and and not a few

of grapes. And melons by the score,

apples to munch or bake galore.

And so does Jennifer provide

each day what mullahs all prescribe

of fruit and veg. in portions five

to keep us healthily alive.

Alas! this Eden’s marred by sin

when naughty little boys who shin

up trees,and little girls who dare

to scrump the apples hanging there.

Turned choristers, they sweetly sing

that ‘all is safely gathered in’.