Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman
Sir John Betjeman
In among the silver birches
Winding ways of tarmac wander
And the signs to Bussock Bottom
Tussock Wood and Windy Break
Gabled lodges, tile-hung churches
Catch the lights of our Lagonda
As we drive to Wendy’s party
Lemon curd and Christmas cake
Rich the makes of motor whirring
Past the pine plantation purring
Come up Hupmobile Delage
Short the way our chauffeurs travel
Crunching over private gravel
Each from out his warm garage
O but Wendy, when the carpet
Yielded to my indoor pumps
There you stood, your gold hair streaming
Handsome in the hall light glеaming
There you looked and thеre you led me
Off into the game of Clumps
Then the new Victrola playing;
And your funny uncle saying
"Choose your partners for a foxtrot
Dance until it's tea o'clock
Come on young 'uns, foot it feetly."
Was it chance that paired us neatly?
I who loved you so completely
You who pressed me closely to you
Hard against your party frock
"Meet me when you've finished eating."
So we met and no one found us
O that dark and furry cupboard
While the rest played hide-and-seek
Holding hands our two hearts beating
In the bedroom silence round us
Holding hands and hardly hearing
Sudden footstep, thud and shriek
Love that lay too deep for kissing
"Where is Wendy? Wendy's missing."
Love so pure it had to end
Love so strong that I was frightened
When you gripped my fingers tight
And hugging, whispered "I'm your friend."
Goodbye Wendy. Send the fairies
Pinewood elf and larch tree gnome
Spingle-spangled stars are peeping
At the lush Lagonda creeping
Down the winding ways of tarmac
To the leaded lights of home
There among the silver birches
All the bells of all the churches
Sounded in the bath-waste running
Out into the frosty air
Wendy speeded my undressing
Wendy is the sheet's caressing
Wendy bending gives a blessing
Holds me as I drift to dreamland
Safe inside my slumber wear
Indoor Games Near Newbury was written by Sir John Betjeman.