By The Landlord
A Song For The Modern Busker
Times are tough for street performers,
Singers, jugglers, guitarists on corners,
Dancers, artists, mime-statues, speakers,
Any artful street beseechers,
As in this era of social distance
Masks and lotion, all-touch resistance
Covid's killed the culture of cash
No one's carrying that jingling stash
To chuck inside that hat or case
Make sounds that light the busker's face
Those pleasing plonks, those little plinks
Those little weights of thanks and winks.
This new tune of cautious estrangement
Is not the greatest musical arrangement.
Technology's a bar to merriment –
"Fella, can you take contactless payment?"
"No." Just when your song gets going and flowing,
Having to fiddle with a mobile pin thing
Is a false economy, a counterfeit penny,
A soulless device, an out-of-tune remedy.
So whatever coinage you can muster
Spare some change for the suffering busker
As coins, as it falls, this week is a theme,
Coins in the fountain, coins in the stream,
Ancient, modern, metaphorical, literal,
Ingots of gold to any base metal
Jingle, jangle, rattle, ker-ching,
Elegant coins, coins of bling,
Coins that spin – calling heads or tails,
Coins found deep in the bellies of whales
Coins with history, coins that tell stories,
Old coins dug up in fields or quarries,
Doubloons, florins, pieces of eight,
Coins of precious, ingot weight,
Coins of Tongbei in bronze age China
Silver dollars from North Carolina,
Rare and precious, or made recurrently,
Coins of Croesus, or Roman currency,
Coins forged and poured in liquid channels,
Coins depicted with gods and animals,
Gold, silver, Lydian electrums
Even coins shaved into plectrums,
Coins of many wondrous shapes,
Gandharan bent-bar, coins like grapes,
Round ones, square ones, dodecahedrons
French with holes, or 50 pence heptagons,
Rusty or dirty, green or pristine
Obverse heads of the ageing Queen,
'Leaden hearts' messages, prior passage to Australia
Defaced for loved ones by convicts Down Under,
Coin collectors of the rarest and foreign,
George III full gold sovereign,
Coins of remembrance lest we forget,
Coins that are tokens, for the launderette,
Coins that are flipped, or spun for games,
Coins for decisions, to justify claims,
Coins that work wondrous arcade machines,
Coins roll down routes, open doors to dreams,
Put that nickel in the nickelodeon,
That slot to start a music mechanism.
Let’s turn on a dime, wish luck on a penny
But whatever you've got, save all and any,
Whatever jangles by sweaty loins
Coins, coins, coins, and more coins!
Whatever it is, whatever you've got,
Place those songs and coins in that slot.
Literal, metaphor, all change you can muster,
Spare all song coins for the hardworking busker.
Let's welcome the guest guru, with his special set
Of songs and stories. George Boyland? You bet!
Deadline's 11pm UK Monday, then join
Spun pun title fun that’s right on the coin.
Tetradrachm of Athens coin
The earliest inscribed: electrum coin of Phanes from Ephesus, 625–600 BCE.
Squares and holes
Bermuda triangles?
North Pole animal coins
Some unusual rarities. Coins capture moments in history.
Chocolate farthing
Spare some for the busker. Give a little, get a lot more back …
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