Gillie Harries

The NATO Phonetic Alphabet Tale

He was an Alpha male

Bravo said I

Charlie was his name

And we collided on the Delta,

Steamy nights, rum punch

An Echo of romance

Was wafting on the breeze.

We clichéd a Foxtrot.

Sometimes,

he played Golf by day

whilst I, languished in the 7 *

 Hotel spa.

We flew to India

I Juliet

On our balcony of hibiscus.

He bought me a Kilo

Of diamonds, emeralds, rubies

Sapphires.

Jetting on to luxuriate

in Lima

our private pilot Mike

in full control.

It was November

Summer fiesta

With his brother Oscar,

And Papa, Mama

The whole shebang.

Finally we settled

In Belle Epoque Quebec,

He still my Romeo,

Though we Wintered

In the Sierra Nevada,

Had a ranch,

Learnt to Tango close.

When he put on his Generalissimo

Uniform

Well, I began to worry,

He was a Victor

In the Coup d’Etat

Drenched in wiles and Whiskey.

He had X-ray eyes for

Other women then.

I ditched him

For a Yankee doodle dandy

Then finally, finally,

A handsome man

From Kwa Zulu land.

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Commentary

A rare humorous poem for me; sitting in the yawning tedium of a mobile phone shop,  the said NATO Alphabet was on the wall beside my chair. I had the time to write the first draft in situ and left with the cheapest phone.

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