Pott's Fracture
Pott's Fracture I ain't got
though Tim Haynes has squished me
six foot plus to five foot eight
I wished the bleeder missed me
at 2nd half—in fairness
I'd caught a scrum half fly
— but that was in the previous half,
for naught I nearly died?
He caught me in the act
of leaping like a hare
and although I was good to run
the ball was nowhere there,
Chase the ball! Down the line!
yours truly head o'er arse
landing with Tim H on top
flat in the muddied grass.
Recuperate, hellish passage,
O corridor infirmal,
prints by Charlie Waterton,
a matron faux-maternal.
But it wasn't Pott's Fracture.
Nor quite a case of bruiséd pride.
Just the breaking of an ankle-bone
by a bugger twice my size.
Charles Waterton was an English naturalist who wandered in South America, invented the bird box and was a prolific artist and taxidermist. In the early 1970s the infirmary at Stonyhurst was decorated with his work.
CW had a sense of humor: a famous tableau he created consisted of reptiles dressed as famous Brits and entitled The English Reformation Zoologically Demonstrated. The piece at left shows his interpretation of Great Britain's national debt.
Image: courtesy of Wakefield Museum, Wakefield UK.