Banality

I have a little mug, well not little, normal sized
While my bigger mugs are bigger, this one is quite highly prized
And my little ones are prettier, more delicate, or smarter
This is the one I use every morning for my hot water.

It’s got a little chip just out of line with where my mouth goes
It’s got some crazing in the bottom so fine it hardly shows
It’s black and white, the ‘mini me’ to my big GUV’NOR mug
But it’s set apart by two words I see when I take a chug

Of tea or coffee or hot water, (cold drinks are for beakers)
Once on the front, once on the back and just inside a ‘sneaker’
That I see because I am right handed, just below the brim
Two words any man bristles with pride if said of him

By those who would know, because only they can certify
That he deserves this epithet, which lets me know that I
Am not excluded from the ranks of those regarded best
Such as my own father, who passed with honours every test

The words ‘Top Dad’ are there enduring, I guess the design
Was left by some far flung Chinese factory production line
But a little ripple from a past tear helps remind
Me that my kids at least once thought that title rightly mine.