Park’s Larks

Mr Park was beginning his life’s work.

Until now he had just been alive.

But this morning the postman had brought him a letter

and now he had purpose and drive.

The letter was really quite shocking.

It told of a slippery slope

Which he, unawares, was already embarked on

and now he could see ’twas no joke.

He felt strongly that Fate was against him,

a poor little victim of sorts,

but then his innate good sense rose up and kicked him

and made him determined to fight such sad thoughts.

He had put something by for a wet day,

for years he had saved bit by bit,

and now he had nothing to lose but his pride

So he took a short lease giving him leave to quit.

He needed a name for his business.

It had to be cool, and sound new;

A name that was trendy, respectable, friendly,

Unusual, short, and yet meaningful too.

His head was beginning to hurt him.

The kids had lost interest and gone,

When Sparky, his wife, voiced a simple idea

That had been in his mind all along.

A name with a certain gravitas,

A name which would ring all the gongs

It would stick like infection, and carry conviction,

It just had to be
PDS Park & Sons.

Sparky knew that her husband was ailing

She’d been watching the symptoms for weeks.

Just last month she’d noticed him missing his turn

On the rota at Darts, where his week reached its peak.

He was eating quite well, but his waistline

Seen from side view was now shrunken in.

If she had time to think, she’d have been worried pink

“He’s beginning to look rather thin.”

The business would have to be easy,

and almost self-regulating.

Of course she would help, and the twins might as well,

But she feared that the strain would do Mr Park in.

Sparky had a good grasp of his mindset

and knew how to manage her man.

If she waited until he had made up his mind

He’d ignore her and flush her advice down the pan.

Since her ideas were few and unhelpful

And she must remain serene and calm,

She invited the twins to contribute some thoughts

And together they drew up a Dad Action Plan.

Kiss reason goodbye

Enter the world of make-believe

Expect anything to happen

Pray for success

Charge around looking busy

Arrange for plenty of time off

Look for any signs of hope

Make contingency plans tomorrow

The Action Plan turned out a Godsend

Giving focus for thinking and verve,

And it’s just as well that they had it,

Or they might have been stripped of their nerve.

The twins thought a “Project” would sort it

So they asked their teacher at school

If the whole class could study this subject in depth

And their classmates said that would be “Cool”.

Mr Park, in the meantime was dreaming

Of a specialized trip agency

Taking him and his kin on each holiday booked

And just running itself for a fee.

Mrs Park had a small group of close friends

Who would gather each Monday for tea

They all knew there was trouble

when she came at the double

and tearfully divulged her difficulty.

“There’s no question that we’ll see you through this”

Her loyal friends rallied around

At least one had experienced a similar trial

And another was on the rebound.

“What you need is a very specific,

And also an alternative plan,

So if one doesn’t work out the other will slide in

And keep him oblivious while you rescan.”

Plan A was a bit on the thin side,

More ephemeral than sturdy and strong.

It involved getting everyone from the whole street

To ask Mr P for a beautiful song.

His voice was a great gift, he knew that,

And it did give him pleasure to sing.

So each day when a neighbour popped in for a chat

He ended up tunefully exercising.

Word spread like the plague round the village

“Mr P’s got a problem I hear.

He’s reluctant to share it, but Sparky wants help

So we’ll do what we can ’cause she is such a dear.”

The Mayor called a meeting about it

“There is clearly a need here” he said

In the war it made all of us stronger

As each saw to it that all the others were fed

And the harder the test was the better we liked it

As time passed we became quite blar-zay

At the risk of a big head I’d say we had cracked it

Pull together, eyes open, lips smiling this way –––

And never, but never lose sight of your object

Just keep your feet moving along the straight path

Look after your pals and your kids and the wife

If we lived through this war, we’d be wiser by half.

The applause was immediate and deafening

He had such a deft way with words

It all sounded easier to deal with put like that

And they knew about ploughshares from swords.

So they made a big effort to right things

That had been sort of skew-whiff for years

Apologies offered, and breakages mended

Emotions ran high and there were a few tears.

In the end it was quite a good effort

And everyone felt they’d been heard

The entire community came to their aid

And the Parks were Celebrities quite lost for words.