Unspent Sestina

‘Like unspent francs, deutchmarks and drachmas’
Sleeping Keys, Jean Sprackland

Do you remember what it was like
back then when our years were unspent,
a rainbow of currencies: French francs,
Swiss francs, the jingle of deutchmarks,
escudos, lire, Spanish pesetas and,
last but not least, Greek drachmas?

Do you remember the drachmas?
These ancient coins vanished like
smoke from the Delphic oracle, and
those kept as souvenirs remain unspent,
waiting in shadow with the deutchmarks
nestling in alliance with snobby francs.

No, we haven’t seen the last of the francs.
They look down on the humble drachma,
suspicious of the once mighty deutchmark
but it’s not a question of ‘like’ or ‘not like’.
All these currencies, cast aside, unspent,
together, they harbour a resentment and

know their day will come again. And,
if the economists were really frank,
they would admit that this treasure, unspent
and sorely missed, doubloons or drachmas,
provides a cultural richness that we all like.
Yes, Germans yearn for their deutchmarks.

The Euro fears the sound of deutchmarks,
rattling like death behind dusty sofas and
crying out ‘Justice for old money!’, like
peasants, mattresses stuffed with francs,
wizened Greeks with their buried drachmas,
so many years, so much wealth unspent.

‘We won’t remain neglected and unspent’
is the slogan of Partei Deutchmarks.
‘Drachma Uber Alles’ sings the drachma
in a fit of confused nationalist fervour and
watch out for the Parti Populaire de Francs.
It’s a mass movement you may not like

but you will never resist the unspent energy of the proud drachma
and the seductive tsunami of crumpled French francs, rolling onwards
like a Wagnerian blitzkrieg of deutchmarks to final victory.