The English Way of Behaving and Misbehaving in Present Day Society

Heather has a Bachelor's Degree in English from Moravian College and has been freelance writing for more than 12 years.

Stuck between a rock and a hard place in daily life

Trapped between speaking with no filter and having no tongue at all

Wondered when some strong nerve will return to the fold

Living inside a British television show where anything went on

Could get away with more than tasteful endeavors

Everything done better with an English accent

To mask any dark intentions behind the dialogue

Ready to run and hide from the classy mayhem

Trapped in a comedy closet full of errors and manners

Everyone so darn polite as they flung insults around

Like loose toys sticking out of a worn out wooden box

Dressed to the nines in 1920s garb but ruthless as a bootlegger

Carrying a loaded Tommy Gun and an attitude to spare

Inside a diamond studded change purse made by Tiffany & Co.

If there was such a thing they would likely be the culprits who made it

Lost inside a labyrinth of a sprawling manor on Downton Abbey

Full of Crawley family members loving and fighting each other in equal parts

Dame Maggie Smith always grabbing onto the best and brightest

Chock filled with enough sarcasm and vigor to make a younger woman blush

Able to carry enough dignity and wisdom to drive home any story point

Picturing Mary and Edith throwing verbal javelins at each other

Instead of embracing their sisterhood in a dignified manner

Some things will never change in the grand scheme of things

Sisters fight and brothers protect everyone at all costs

Embracing some present day conventions with some ties to past ties

Images of polite courting and a mild dash of a secret scandal tucked away

Blackmailers coming out of the woodwork and criminals running around

Ruling the house with an iron fist, but with enough wiggle room

To give some flexibility for special circumstances and other human behavior

Drinking tea and alcohol almost in tandem to function in everyday life

Nothing said classy like holding a teacup filled with a special brew

Wearing your Sunday bests and dancing the night away doing so

Even day to day decorum doesn't hide away weaknesses in character

Best to be delicately honest and still maintaining some level of dignity

With a sophisticated sense of humor to pinpoint society's flaws

Everything that a Graham Norton episode is filled with

Nothing better than some classically silly humor to lighten your mood

If only it could translate to living in the states

One can only hope.

Comments

Lorna Lamon on November 21, 2019:

I really enjoyed this Heather and I loved your references to Downton Abbey - Maggie Smith made it worth watching. A very insightful and humorous piece - great read.

John Hansen from Queensland Australia on November 20, 2019:

This gave me a smile. I love British TV, well a lot of it. Whether any of it translates to living in Australia, possibly a little more than to the States. Nice job with this poem.