enforced performance and the Dark Clown

a poem on the Dark Clown compare and contrast with the Clown poem in the 21/11/2015 post.


the baton / the gun / the alarm / the knife

the compliant will inherit the next

30 seconds of life

the impossible choice

in blinding light / in dirty trousers / deaf with fright

the way we flinch 

the way we quake

the now point-pitched

the past a mistake

and no escape and no escape

and no escape and no escape

and oh, the terrible lengths we go

we jitter and dance

we splutter and moan

steamrollered by force

we scream ourselves hoarse

blink out dying messages like Morse

we betray we betray we betray we betray

open the bomb bay doors

and away

dignity / honour / pity / grace

all depthless fall

into depthless grey

the cable / the iron bar / the tank / the knife

the compliant will inherit the next

30 seconds of life

the impossible choice

in blinding light / in dirty trousers / deaf with fright