The sad clown wasn’t sad at all. His frown was painted on, and his tears were all for show.
No one trusted a happy man. Smiles, good cheer, friendliness, it all made everyone feel uncomfortable. It just wasn’t worth the hassle.
So now he lived his lie
all alone
in the silence and solitude
of his own happy home.
___________
Notes:
1. Written on October 16th, 2024
__________Now this morning my Lord recounted to me his dream of the night before, his seventh such that I have recorded upon the skin of this scroll, and his eighth in total during this period of his solitude. And he said to me, “My dear scribe, last night as I slept, I dreamt. And this dream was as confounding as the mysteries of the Forgotten Scholars, which so perplex those of us wise enough to study their writings. For in this dream I had before me my advisors, and the first of them said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.” And then I moved down the line, and the second of my advisors said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.” And then I moved down the line, and the third of my advisors said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.” And then I moved down the line, and the fourth of my advisors said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.” And then I moved down the line, and the fifth of my advisors said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.” And then I moved down the line, and the sixth of my advisors said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.” And then I moved down the line, and the seventh of my advisors said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.” And then I moved down the line, and the eighth of my advisors said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.” And then I moved down the line, and the ninth of my advisors said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.” And then I moved down the line, and the tenth of my advisors said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.” And then I moved down the line, and the eleventh of my advisors said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.” And then I moved down the line, and the twelfth of my advisors said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.” And then I moved down the line, and the thirteenth of my advisors said to me, “You can trust me, my Lord, for unlike these others, I shall not lie to you.”
__________
Notes:
1. Written in June 2020
__________In the mountains, a few days walk from here, there’s a valley, barely known to the world. It’s cut off by snow and ice for most of the year, and by the rushing meltwaters of its river for much of the rest.
But if you somehow find your way to it, there grows a tree in the clearing there, all crooked and cold and bare. It will listen to your whispers, take them into its heart, and turn, by some dark magic, your lies to truth, or your truth to lies.
Once you’ve said your piece you turn and walk away, back to the world that has changed around you. Only you remember how things were before. Only you remember when your newly borne truth was a lie, when your new lie was true.
Slowly you are driven mad.
While the trees roots grow ever deeper.
__________
Notes:
1. Written in October 2017
__________
__________
Notes:
1. Drawn on May 21st, 2019
2. Although the text was written in November sometime
3. While sat on a bench in the shopping centre
4. Trying not to think about all the things I could not afford to buy