Ode to Dr Peter Mark Roget – Marjorie Carter

The George Crabbe Memorial Poetry Competition
1992 Crabbe Memorial Competition – First Prize
Adjudicators: D.J. Enright, Elizabeth Bartlett

I love you, Dr Roget……
no, that’s not right, you don’t deserve cliché…..

I’m partial to you, value you, hold you dear,
I’m nuts about you, got it bad, I dote —
or is that taking things a bit too far?

I only know life would be incomplete
(inadequate, half-baked) without you near,
and can’t imagine (fancy, fabricate
or improvise) a world where you aren’t here.

Desire for you won’t peter out, abate,
dwindle, decrease, decline or disappear.
You made your mark with me, beyond dispute.

Give me the one word which can best convey
exactly what I mean………
                                          I’ll have to say
it’s love, dear Dr Roget.

Copyright © Marjorie Carter 1992