the poodle-faker


resist much obey little  
Walt Whitman



you never know
what he might be
from day to day
sometimes he’ll say
something to catch you
on the hop
something you night
for a moment
even believe yourself
except for long experience
to the contrary
the following day
he might say the opposite
at the same time
glowing with sincerity
he’s a man of the people
with whom he has
nothing in common
and you know he despises
but he gets away with it
nothing is what it seems
or sounds with him
he’s a poodle-faker
nonpareil
and some succumb:
he’ll tell them
black is white
right is wrong
lies are truth
and they’ll believe
and wag their tails too
mark you
he’s not just
ours
he’s part
of an internationally
select band 
who run the world
they are knee-deep
in gelt –
in gelt not guilt
please note –
guilt’s an emotion
which has no currency
with poodle-fakers
they’ve been
getting away with it
for centuries
and devoutly practise
what they preach

 

 

 

.

Jeff Cloves

In Jaroslav Hasek’s anarchic novel of 1921-23
The Good Soldier Schweik (Penguin Modern Classic)
Schweik falls foul of political and military poodle-fakers
and defeats them by faking idiocy – and let that be
a lesson to us all

 

Illustration: Atlanta Wiggs


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One Response to the poodle-faker

    1. Before he was conscripted
      Schweik’s actual trade
      (if trade it can be called)
      was poodle-faking
      at this he was
      grossly incompetent
      and thus he was not
      ankle-deep in gelt
      and was widely
      regarded as an idiot
      but the novel is moot
      as to whether he was so
      or simply faked idiocy
      he survived the war
      and is an endearing
      and hilarious creation.
      I see him as part of
      ‘The invisible insurrection
      of a million minds’
      and as such
      is a continuing
      inspiration

      Comment by jeff cloves on 15 February, 2020 at 9:34 am

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