1131 A Passion Of Poets Poem by John Knight

There is a name for every state
In which things like to congregate
A flight of stairs - a swarm of ants
A batch fo bread - a pair of pants!
A gaggle of geese - a flock of sheep
A bed of babies fast asleep!

A gross of Germans - a peck of French
A pint of Irish - diggin' a trench
A flight of Arabs - a skirl of Scots
A bunch of English forget-me-nots.
An explosion fo Macho Italian Men
But with their Mammas - Bambini again!

A shoal of herring - a brood of eels
A clutch of oysters - a herd of seals
A brood fo pheasants - a pack of grouse
A host of sparrows - garden and house.
A herd of camels - a sloth of bears
A troop of monkeys - a trip of hares.

A school of whales - a shoal of bass
A hover of trout - a clutch of wrasse
A muster of peacocks - a flight of doves
A charm of goldfinch - which everyone loves.
A pride of lions - a herd of cows
a kindle of kittens with lots of meows!

Apeal of bells and a clump of trees
a web of spiders - an itch of fleas
A posse of police chase a gang of thieves
A crackle of twigs and a rustle of leaves.
Animpatience of wives and a NO NO of nannies
A persistence of parents - an indulgence of grannies.

A host of Angels - an emotion of harps
A choir of singers in flats and sharps.
An aroma of bakers - a barrel of brewers
A tower of teachers - a good cause of doers.
A bench of Bishops - a troupe of dancers
A prudence of Vicars - a myth of romancers.

We can make up 'collectives' for people we hate
A rip-off of bankers and agents - estate
A riff-raff of knaves - a rascal of boys
a drilling of dentists - a death of kill-joys.
A wobble of cyclists - a goggle of tourists
An indifference of waiters - a narrow of purists!

Tere's always a word for a gang or a group
A huddle a haggle a pummel a troop
A crassness of those who ae on theX-Factor
a scourge of bacteria - campylobacter.
A chuckle of clowns - a giggle of girls
A dangle of diamonds - a cluster of pearls.
So just think of a group of people of things
A gayness of Queens or an excess of Kings!
Everything - everywhere - anyhow - anytime
They have all been named in a song or a rhyme!

John Knight who lives with a 'Castle of Knights' in a Castle.

(John Knight - Colchester - December 2009)