In this secret world, caught between the confusions,
my superiors have made me feel too self-important,
underpaid but with theoretical blank cheque
in the cosmos within the country within the city.
In the circus of deception the audience faces the tent
applauding the shadows of the acts within the ring
where the lion-tamer is—in fact—a taxidermist
who’ll never admit that the lions he tames are stuffed.
The skeleton in my flesh has been somehow turned.
I walk in the public world like a guillotined ghost.
Charm’s the veneer. Inside is a tissue of lies
nourished by barium meals and by chickenfeed.
The skeleton in my flesh has been somehow turned
Text: Niall McDevitt
Graphic: Nick Victor
hello niall
Comment by adam skidmore on 5 May, 2012 at 1:02 pmremember me??i wonder what inspired you to write this…………….its scary and so accurate almost as if you were directly involved……………………..the amount of people i come across who talk about gruesome acts these days in london its terrible any yet half of them do not really seem capable of it,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,its just like totally imaginary,,,,i thought this was a geniuine newspaper
its a lovely poem……………………i wonder if you opine the guilty party……….does it interest you .i guess its called party politics much like in 1984…………….take great care peace love and justice
Niall: Adam, thznks for your comments. Just to say: I wasn’t directly involved. I bet one of those great dames, those titled moneypennys, got him in the end.
Comment by Editor on 7 May, 2012 at 1:00 pmI love the line: I walk in the public world like a guillotined ghost. Double deception!
Comment by Lorraine Fish on 7 May, 2012 at 1:55 pm