{"id":157942,"date":"2020-10-29T08:22:21","date_gmt":"2020-10-29T12:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/i-was-a-delicate-boy\/"},"modified":"2020-10-29T08:22:21","modified_gmt":"2020-10-29T12:22:21","slug":"i-was-a-delicate-boy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/i-was-a-delicate-boy\/","title":{"rendered":"I was a Delicate Boy"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was a Delicate Boy<\/b><\/p>\n

Julie Bracken<\/a> posted a photo:<\/p>\n

\"I<\/a><\/p>\n

Poem, crafted & read by the dulcet toned John Betjeman<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

Yes, it was Bedford Park the vision came from
\nde Morgan lustre glowing round the hearth,
\nAnd that sweet flower which self-love takes its name from
\nNodding among the lilies in the garth,
\nAnd Arnold Dolmetsch touching the spinet,
\nAnd Mother, Chiswick’s earliest suffragette.<\/p>\n

I was a delicate boy<\/a> my parents’ only
\nAnd highly strung. My father was in trade.
\nAnd how I loved, when Mother left me lonely,
\nTo watch old Martha spice the marmalade,
\nOr help with flower arrangements in the lobby
\nBefore I went to find my playmate Bobby.<\/p>\n

We’d go for walks, we bosom boyfriends would
\nFor Bobby’s watching sisters drove us mad,
\nAnd when we just did nothing we were good,
\nBut when we touched each other we were bad.
\nI found this out when Mother said one day
\nShe thought we were unwholesome in our play.<\/p>\n

So Bobby and I were parted. Bobby dear,
\nI didn’t want my tea. I heard your sisters
\nPlaying at hide-and-seek with you quite near
\nAs off the garden gate I picked the blisters.
\nOh tell me, Mother, what I mustn’t do
\nThen, Bobby, I can play again with you.<\/p>\n

For I know hide-and-seek’s most secret places
\nMore than your sisters do. And you and I
\nCan scramble into them and leave no traces,
\nNothing above us but the twigs and sky,
\nNothing below us but the leaf-mould chilly
\nWhere we can warm and hug each other silly.<\/p>\n

My Mother wouldn’t tell me why she hated
\nThe things we did, and why they pained her so.
\nShe said a fate far worse than death awaited
\nPeople who did the things we didn’t know,
\nAnd then she said I was her precious child,
\nAnd once there was a man<\/a> called Oscar Wilde.<\/p>\n

Open your story book and find a tale
\nOf ladyes fayre and deeds of derring-do,
\nOr good Sir Gawaine and the Holy Grail,
\nMother will read her boy<\/a> a page or two
\nBefore she goes, this Women’s Suffrage Week,
\nTo hear that clever Mrs Pankhurst speak.<\/p>\n

Sleep with your hands above your head. That’s right
\nAnd let no evil thoughts pollute the dark.
\nShe rose, and lowered the incandescent light.
\nI heard her footsteps die down Bedford Park.
\nMother where are you? Bobby, Bobby, where?
\nI clung for safety to my teddy bear.
www.youtube.com\/watch?v=922GFr_x3IY<\/a><\/p>\n

18346755058_d5bc22eaa4_o
\nIMG_6631
\n1 Jun 15<\/p>\n

\n\"I<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I was a Delicate Boy Julie Bracken posted a photo: Poem, crafted & read by the dulcet toned John Betjeman Yes, it was Bedford Park the vision came from de Morgan lustre glowing round the hearth, And that sweet flower which self-love takes its name from Nodding among the lilies in the garth, And Arnold … Continue reading I was a Delicate Boy<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2466,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[103],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-photos"],"yoast_head":"\nI was a Delicate Boy - GAYFRIENDSCHAT.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/i-was-a-delicate-boy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"I was a Delicate Boy - 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