PUTIN
for A.J.
‘It’s not a human face’, I can still hear you saying.
Was it ever ? The high dome of the forehead lifting
to neatly concealed receding hair—
the eyes narrowed, vacated to steel
then the long drop down the protruding nose
to the expressionless, sad, once sensual lips
collapsed into a lopsided line, the skin
like an advertisement for Gillette’s
latest faultless quadruple-bladed razor
and dusted with a layer of near-invisible make-up
beneath a platinum grey suit and matching tie…
Human ? Yes, once (before he died inside)
clinical as the flourescent light surrounding him
that seems to emanate from those eyes
as merciless as it is soulless
and full of its own ego design
that is power and victory at any price
over all who dared put Little Putin down
the violence now all in his mind
the bullies other states, or even nations
he can flex his castellated Kremlin against
(his last defiant message to the West)
and look away again at those eyes
as if from somewhere else in space
bathed in extraterrestial light
the suit and tie like lizard skin
encasing what was once President Vladimir Putin.
.
Jay Ramsay
Illustration Mike Lesser
Illustration Mike Lesser
Amazing dear!
Comment by Elena Caldera on 8 March, 2012 at 3:41 pmE