An Ode to Engineers

[kaima]

I should have gone in for the arts


We make more fuss of ballads than of blueprints --

That's why so many poets end up rich,

While engineers scrape by in cheerless garrets.

Who needs a bridge or dam? Who needs a ditch?

Whereas the person who can write a sonnet

Has got it made. It's always been the way,

For everybody knows that we need poems

And everybody reads them every day.

Yes, life is hard if you choose engineering --

You're sure to need another job as well;

You'll have to plan your projects in the evenings

Instead of going out. It must be hell.

While well-heeled poets ride around in Daimlers,

You'll burn the midnight oil to earn a crust,

With no hope of a statue in the Abbey,

With no hope, even, of a modest bust.

No wonder small boys dream of writing couplets

And spurn the bike, the lorry and the train.

There's far too much encouragement for poets --

That's why this country's going down the drain.