Getting By

 

Friends in other countries
call to ask if we’re alright. I say
this is a Disneyland dictatorship
and we’re fighting it in kind
by watching television
that makes us laugh out loud.
We’re listening to radio

in any language but our own
and tuning in at bedtime
to the late night show
which parodies reality, or is it
the other way round? It feels
safer when the news comes in Italian
or French; it leads us
to believe disaster is beyond

translation. We take our illusions
seriously though. Sports results
have replaced the daily numbers
from economists, and we’ve come
to respect the office of comedian.
From now on we’re building

castles in the air, sprinkling stardust
on our clothes, and taking
each official word
to mean its opposite.

 

© David Chorlton 2017
Illustration Nick Victor


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One Response to Getting By

    1. A beautiful account which reflects the state of a space overwhelmingly divided and conquered.

      Comment by Maria Stadnicka on 26 February, 2017 at 9:39 pm

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