Read Poem: Li-si-bi-fi-fac-man, by John White

Li-si-bi-fi-fac-man (pron. ‘Lissy Biffy Fackman’)
Some of us take many years to work out who we are.
Some, like me, lack wisdom: some bear a different scar.
I’m just over sixty, and I’ve finally worked it out
I’m a ‘li-si-bi-fi-fac-man’ – there’s a few of us about!

 

The ‘l.i’ stands for ‘lift it’; the ‘s.i’ stands for ‘shift it’, 
The ‘b.i’ stands for ‘build it’; the ‘f.i’ stands for ‘fix it’.
And when the lifting, shifting’s done, and the building, fixing too
There’s often ‘fetch and carry’ when there’s nothing else to do.

 

That’s what ‘f.a.c’. stands for, and I’m sure you’ll understand,
That while there’s a time and place for that, It can get out of hand.

 

I for one allowed it; I’ve done it all my life,
I thought the way to happiness was try to please the wife.

 

But I now know that’s not possible, I wish I’d known before;
I wish someone had put me…