A Lament for the Kettle

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Ah! What have they done to the kettle,

That used to sing on the hob?

They’ve given it a whole new image,

And now they call it a jug.

And who put that silly thermometer,

Right on the side of it’s face,

And all them shiny red buttons,

You’d think t’was designed out in space.

They tell me this latest invitation,

Is the thing for the kitchen today,

And that it will boil up in seconds,

When you want to make cups of tay.

Ah! With all them newfangled notions,

For me they can never exchange,

The sound of the shiny black kettle,

Humming away on the range.

by Angela Hayes (April 1990)