Remember, remember the fifth of November
Guy Fawkes and Gunpowder Plot
Not a day for quiet or peace
But bedlam, as likely as not

Gone are the days of a Catherine Wheel
A penny or “tuppeny” banger
Or a rocket turned into an aeroplane
With cardboard and a coat-hanger

The simple displays of yesteryear
Are now considered too tame
You have to spend hundreds of pounds
Excess is the name of the game

A kilo of “taters” tucked into the fire
Retrieved with the aid of a stick
Really won’t cut it with people today
A barbie and beers are their pick

At the end of the day when the ashes die down
And the barbie is swimming in fat
When you have squandered your few hundred pounds
Will you feel any better for that?

Fireworks are thrilling, a spectacle too
Exciting and noisy as well
But I prefer the gentler times
When I first fell under their spell