23 Good Reasons
It’s 23 steps to the front door of No. 23,
A long way in 23-degree humid heat,
On this, the 23rd day of the month;
My guests arrived in twos and threes,
And altogether there were 23 adults,
First arrival was at 23 minutes to three,
The last arrival was at 23 minutes past three,
Some turned up with two-year-olds,
And some with three-year-olds,
In all, there were 23 children,
Plus 23 adults, making a total of 46,
Half of which, for trivia’s sake, is 23!
There were 23 steps from backdoor to barbecue,
They all followed their noses to the aroma
of cooking - in twos and threes,
Sizzling hot were 2kg of sausages, 3kg of beef steaks,
2kg of lamb chops, 3kg of hamburgers,
2kg of chicken pieces, 3kg of whole fish,
2kg of shelled prawns,
3kg of sliced Dutch cream potato,
And, no, not 2kg, but 3kg of garden salad,
Making a grand total of 23kg!
Not bad eating if you’re aged 23 and slim,
Not so good if plump and, that’s right, aged 23!
End to end the spread measured 23 metres,
Which filled much more than 23m of intestine,
Later, half of those attending, which was 23,
gathered around the goldfish pond,
in which there were 23 unique specimens
swimming, contented, in an area approximately
4.80m by 4.80m – and, give or take a fraction,
this equals 23 sq.m,
The other 23 children and grown-ups enjoyed
23 bottles of fine wine,
And 23 cans of assorted soft drinks,
(A lot of over-indulgence, wouldn’t you agree?!)
Everyone had left by 23.00 hours
(extremely late for children),
Having departed in twos and threes,
Staggering the 23 steps to the front gate of No. 23,
Most got into their cars – 23 various makes of vehicles,
And the remainder caught the No.23 bus home.
This all says something about the number 23.
© Michael Garrad June 2012
(Inspired by a conversation with Allan Jamieson,
author of the prestigious work, The Pulp:
The Rise And Fall Of An Industry)
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