Just A Minute! Poem by Pamela Ann Frances Crane

“Just a Minute on ‘Silver Lining’;
Sixty seconds, and starting now! ”
“On showery days when the sun is shining,
A thunder cloud with a beetle brow

Muscles in front of the golden glory
Threatening day with inky night -
But Sol is stronger than Jove is, surely,
Lining the cloud with silver light...”

“Repetition of ‘cloud’! ” “For forty
Seconds ‘Silver Lining’ is yours.”
“A chap was tarring the roads; for sport he
Tried white-lining them on all fours...”

“Deviation! That’s white, not silver! ”
“I haven’t finished! ” “Well, carry on.”
“The moon came up, and a gleaming river
Of light... illumined the lines he’d done,

Turning them all to silver... Then he
Recollected an old technique...
Um...” “Hesitation! ” “And far too many!
Twenty seconds are left to speak.”

“I was seven; my first magician
Filling the stage with flags and doves
Flourished in keeping with his tradition
The silver lining of cape and gloves.

How it shimmered! The act enchanted
This small boy; and that cloak means still
Every gift that I always wanted -
To mystify, to amaze, to thrill! ”

“Congratulations! We have a winner;
You still spoke as the whistle went! ”
The Minute Waltz; and we go to dinner,
Silver Service and David Brent...