If Every Turban Copyright © Colin Whyles

If every turban
Housed a turbine
That caught the wind inside a cup
Would the wind
No longer blow
And every Sikh rise gently up?

If each noble peer
Dressed as a pierrot
In chequered ermine hat and gown
Would the Upper
House be opened
By the monarch's cry, “Send in the clowns”?

If every time
There was a time
No-one had time to tell the time
Would the time
No longer told
Be time as precious as if 'twere gold?

If time ran at a tempo
Aligned to your temper
Would it tamper
With your temperament?
Or bedevil
Your development?

If I could be certain
When I drew a curtain
That it would be open, not closed
Then I could be sure
When I drew it before
I'd got it together, s'pose

If an Ugli Fruit
Was dressed to kill
In silk and satin frilled with lace
Would you only see
Its throbbing heart
And not its twisted, ugly face?