Iconic and Ironic

 

 

Few things really excite me

And there is a reason for this,

Life is so fleeting and things so transient,

Everything is but a light kiss.

 

I do get a light thrill, though,

Out of English words

And in some cases, I must admit,

This borders on the absurd.

 

I don’t go looking for them

But they just jump out at me

As though they are making sure

Of something I should see.

 

Examine with me, if you will,

The following two:

Ironic and Iconic and this is of course,

If you’ve nothing better to do.

 

There’s a bit of ironic in iconic

Especially when related to heroes,

One day they can be icons

And the next, they can be foes.

 

 

One slip and you are out

No matter how good you had been,

It is the irony of life, you see,

In a flash, it’s the next scene.

 

It is like friend and fiend-

Just the ‘r’ has been removed,

A minor difference some might say

But most would not approve.

 

Similarly iconic and ironic:

The ‘c’ replaced by ‘r’

But without hesitation you’ll agree,

The former is better by far.

 

The iconic are accorded

Tremendous esteem and praise

But it is incredibly ironic, at least to me,

This is often a phase.

 

I recall an incident

Around the late sixties,

Garry Sobers threw away a match

And my father was so angry.

 

 

A photo of the icon Sobers

From the partition had hung

But at the outcome of that match

It was treated like bird dung.

 

Garry Sobers had declared

And England won the test series,

All the other matches were drawn

And therein was the irony.

 

From friend to fiend,

From iconic to ironic,

Garry Sobers sporting declaration

Made my father sick.

 

 

In my father’s estimation

Garry Sobers had fallen so low

That the icon’s photograph

Flew out the window.

 

Isn’t it ironic, I must add,

The interplay between these two!

Today the iconic; tomorrow the ironic!

Such a hasty change of view!

 

Stewart Russell © January 20, 2024