JON WHYTE: Keeper of Place

Every One And No One

This is the story of a boy and a girl. They are called Everyone and No One, but they are both good children, but here is some of their troubles. Everyone is a girl and No One is a boy.

1. Everyone had a party and No One was their.  2.  Everyone fell in and No One saved her.  3. Everyone had a cake and No One ate it.  4. Everyone belonged to the Cathalic church and No One went to the Angalin church.  5. Everyone painted a picture and No One bought it.  6. Everyone bought a house and No One lived in it.  7. Everyone got a camra and No One was in the pictures.  8. No one got a set of dishes and Everyone broke them.
9. Everyone wanted to go to the bath room and No One owned a toilet. 10. Everyone owned a store and No One bought things there.  11. Everyone owned a speedboat and No One knew how to drive it.  12. Everyone had a baby and No One was its Father.  

– Jon Whyte (age ten)

In the introduction to Gallimaufry, a collection of poems published in 1981, Jon explains: I wrote the fagment “Every One and No One” when I was ten. I include it because Catharine saved it, and I have preserved its misspellings. I think it a precocious snippet. It is, I believe, the last work I wrote entirely for adults.

Jon Whyte: Keeper of Place || Whyte Museum