Traitors!

Cherry

By Parson Thru

Fri, 22 Jun 2018
  • 3534 reads
14 comments
 

Traitor: guilty of treason, treachery, 
betraying friends, country, cause or principle.

What are you up to, Editors?

Whose dirty work are you doing?

In whose service do you turn your rabid front pages 
upon the State?

I never had you down as revolutionaries 
– mercenaries, perhaps.

Yes, paid guns.  
That’s who you are.  

You’re educated folk.  
You know how Government works.

This isn’t a plan you worked out for yourselves, is it?

On whose errand do you tap into fears, 
the old feudal loyalties, tradition?

Beating-up the nobility doesn’t really square, 
but the readership won’t spot that.

You’ve got them too busy raging 
and snarling with indignation.

And it's all so confusing: 
flags, bunting, Bentleys, toffs.

So where’s the treachery?

Scrutiny is the role of the Upper House – so they scrutinise, 
try to prevent bad legislation.

They’ve sworn an allegiance.  (How about you?)
To protect the interests of the nation.  

The checks and balances of State.  

I’m telling you something you already know.

So where’s the crime?

Who or what has been betrayed?  

Be careful how you answer.
You wouldn’t want to upset your friends.

Certificate U
Poem
Passed on
Humour

Comments

Submitted by Di_Hard on

I still don't understand why the Tory right want to leave. They all knew the extra money thing wasn't true, it was just the kind of thing politicians say before an election - a sort of wish to show how nice they would be if only things were completely unrealistic, but leaving out the unrealistic part.

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

EU tax reforms. Opportunistic power grab. It's now their manifesto pledge.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Pat G on

Yes, smash the checks and balances of democracy. Now the upper chamber, before that rebel MPs, and before that the independent judiciary. Hurrah. And all this based on 17.4m votes in a nation of 65.2m people.
See, your poem's got us talking.

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Something unhealthy this way comes.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Hydra on

From what I can see, the rags and media outlets are constantly savaging Westminster as a whole, not just the House of Lords - and on many occasions they are right to do so. Would we have known about their expenses if it had not been for investigative journalism for example. Or the sexist behaviour affecting both houses.

Maybe we should move Westminster every five years to the poorest constituency in the country. A little taste of reality would do our Govt no harm at all.

Content aside, I'm puzzled to know why it's laid out as a poem. It doesn't sound like one when I read it aloud. 

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Good points, all, but the Lords treatment by the Mail and Express has been very specific.

Yes, maybe a kind of Radio 1 Roadshow. The Speaker could be renamed Smiley Miley.

Format. I had my poem-writing head on. The short statements perhaps work better that way.

If you look at the vast majority of Rimbaud's work or the prose poetry of Solzhenitzyn it's set out as prose in paragraphs. Ginsberg's Howl and Kaddish are set out in a "poetic" style, though might have been paragraphed.

In strict form, versification is forced upon you, or you have a selection of forms to use.

Hard to say. To me, it's good that we have the choice. Perhaps it depends how I hear it in my head when I'm writing it.

All those options are valid, I think. Lyrical forms certainly have their place. I love reading good examples.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Hydra on

For me, the litmus test for a poem is how it sounds.

I can't vouch for Rimbaud or Solzhenitzyn. Howl, however, even if paragraphed would still present as a poem when read aloud:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVGoY9gom50

In a similar way, when Seamus Heaney read his poems, the poetic quality was unmistakable even though he read them so naturally:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhBK5_zLwJY

Same with Bukowski. He wrote deceptively simple poems that when read aloud burst into life (which is probably why so many try to imitate him and fail):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxnwqKHWQjY

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Interesting, but doesn't a performance depend very much on who's reading/performing?

I used to do readings but gave up because I couldn't get conviction into them. Others might have. I could have read Howl at the Six Gallery in SF and poor Allen might have remained unknown. (Joking, obviously).

Who knows? It's a big and complex world. Perhaps I'm an imposter. It's crossed my mind enough times. Blagger finally caught out.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Hydra on

We're all blaggers, wondering if the next gig is the one where we get found out.

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Zaccly:)

Parson Thru

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Perhaps because it's a monologue. Guessing.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Who knows, scorpio88?

https://soundcloud.com/parson-thru/traitors-mp3

This is why I don't do readings anymore.

Parson Thru

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

I really liked that reading parson!

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Thank you insert.

Parson Thru