Dancing Dust
	Poems by Mollie Caird (1922-2000)
	Villanelle: on a wet summer
Home Alphabetic index of poems Thematic index of poems Biography Gallery Contact and links	O damp marquees where I have sat and sat, O grandstands where it gurgles down the drain, Why did I buy this garden party hat? At the school sports I saw a water-rat; At prize giving I put it on in vain; O damp marquees where I have sat and sat! At Lord’s they never even touched a bat, At Wimbledon came flooding in the main; Why did I buy this garden party hat? At Ascot ― don’t remind me now of that ― I suffered from acute rheumatic pain; O damp marquees where I have sat and sat! The vicarage flower-beds were all laid flat, At Henley everyone was drenched again; Why did I buy this garden party hat? It cost ten guineas (all right, laugh, you cat!) ― I might have known that it would pour with rain. O damp marquees where I have sat and sat, Why did I buy this garden party hat? Oxford Times, 26 July 1963 The Dancing Dust and other poems, 1983