Monday, December 15, 2008

A Bureau of Questions

Paul Delvaux ~ Les phases de la lune III, 1942

I can chatter away ‘til the end of the day
About everything under the sun
From the price of trains and the unblocking of drains
To the weather and the holiday sun

But if I pull at this thread will it unravel my bed
and leave me lying in state?
If I scratch at this surface will I be buried in curses
And be questioned by practitioners of hate?

And with stitches unpicked and by trick cards trumped
Be conveyed to the basement of wonder
There to be seated with black eyes deleted
And my curiosity crumbled with thunder

Beneath new silicon skin drawn from the security bin
The clockwork and cantilevers creak
My mouth manipulated to a rhythm un-equated
With stereotyped words that I speak

And accountants and lawyers will subtract and destroy us
With the mechanised hum of tomorrow
And when the law don’t count up to the correct amount
They’ll begin the taxation of sorrow



There is something about a bureaucrat that does not like a poem.
~ Gore Vidal

6 comments:

CherryPie said...

When unraveling the thread, we need to keep hold of the end of the thread!

Unknown said...

It's the time of year when threads are unraveling all around and curses are all you hear in the traffic.

James Higham said...

Ah, the one Roald Dahl utilized in the Russian versions.

Garth said...

mmm you're all hanging on to the thread...
CherryPie: there may be a tooth on the other end
Van: roadrage is universal
James: elaborate please, I'm unfamiliar with your reference

James Higham said...

The picture graces the cover of the Roald Dahl [Russian version] book of short stories.

CherryPie said...

Maybe a wisdom tooth ;-)

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