they made me watch question time
on a loop
forever
and every time i screamed
they added another episode
on another screen
until i faced a wall of it
wider than the horizon
brighter than any sky
any sun
any laser fired directly through the eye
and into the brain
and every time i wept
they turned the sound up
and up
and up
until the entire world throbbed
with ignorance
and hate
from which i could not escape
___________
Notes:
1. Written on October 29th, 2020
__________A lord had three sons. One day, when they were fully grown, he took them to the top of the tallest tower of the castle and made them fire an arrow over the parapet and into the town. And wheresoever the arrow fell, there his son would find his wife.
The first son, the lord’s favourite, and upon whom the lord had lavished his entire life’s fortune and love, fired his arrow and his strength was such that the arrow flew out beyond the town to the castle of the neighbouring kingdom. It flew through the window and struck the headboard of the bed where the king’s fairest daughter was sleeping. And so the lordling and the princess were married that very afternoon.
The next day, the second son, about whom the lord was largely indifferent, fired his arrow, and his strength, though not as great as his elder brother’s, was still such that the arrow flew out over the town towards the church, where it struck the gate of the vicarage. The bishop’s only daughter was cleaning in the yard, and so the second son and the bishop’s daughter were married that very afternoon.
On the third day, the youngest son, who the king despised, fired his arrow. After years of abuse and neglect, the young man was so weak and useless that the arrow tumbled straight down into the market place below, where it struck a travelling merchant in the throat and killed her instantly. And so the third son and the corpse were married that very afternoon.
__________
Notes:
1. Written on the 18th May, 2016
2. So I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to include it here.
3. Perhaps cause it was a bit too bleak and cynical
4. Even for me.
5. (And the same applies for next week’s one, too)
And I wonder, I always wonder, what excuse did Bluebeard give that first time, to his first wife. What justifications did he make, to her, to himself. For he had no secrets in his chamber then, had no reason to hide anything so enticingly behind locked doors and furtive promises…
__________
Notes:
1. Written on 20th July, 2020
__________When I was a child, of about eight or nine, for a few months I had this obsession painting eggs. I don’t know why. I just loved painting faces on eggshells.
You poked a pin in the bottom of the egg first, so the white and the yolk would drip out, and then you’d leave the shell to dry. And then I’d take my pens and my paint brushes, and I’d give each of them a face, and a name, and a personality. Some of them I even gave little hats. But only to my favourites.
I lined them all up on the top of my bookcase. Next to the dinosaurs and the miniature globe and the spaceships from Space 1999 and Blake’s 7 that I had, and loved, even though I’d never seen Blake’s 7, and still haven’t, 35 years later.
Anyway, one day, the eggs began to speak. And I listened.
Soon there was no going back.
___________
Notes:
1. Written on June 17th, 2020
__________In the village where I grew up there was much excitement when the lord’s wife gave birth to an angel, and the lord invited people from across the land to come and see the cherubic miracle.
When the angel threatened to fly away, the lord clipped her wings. When she tried to run away, he cut off her feet. When the angel began to sing for help, he cut the tongue from her mouth.
Still now the people come to see her, this miraculous child of heaven, chained up weeping in her cage.
__________
Notes:
1. Written on August 14th, 2019
2. Similar to The Jealous Lord