the prayer to St Gladys

 

honestly

in our times

 

prayer to St Gladys

 

 

why do we need courts at all?

or parliaments?

 

whatever happened to trust?

 

the politician says

‘I never lied’

‘I was always good’

‘I adhered to the highest standards’

 

never resile – that’s the rule

 

the football player says

‘I never raped anyone

or passed the ball forward’

 

time will vindicate

 

the drunk driver never touched a drop

those pedestrians leaped callously out

                       just like that

 

I feel your pain

and the family’s

 

the coach swears blind

never molested a child

 

a war on terror makes us all safer

 

a war on drugs purifies the race

 

no bombs are falling here

 

honestly

have you ever been caught masturbating in a cupboard?

I think you know the punchline

 

the emperor says

‘I only cut off bad heads’

 

a soldier is following orders

and you would

yes, perhaps there is regret

 

even a saint must make mistakes

how else can we see she was tried?

 

it’s that one baby on your bayonet

and the lifetime of public service forgotten

 

it’s the insolence and the ingratitude

‘all my good deeds were done just for you’

 

‘I never lie’

‘just don’t do it’

‘always try my best’

 

who needs parliaments or courts

or enquiries?

 

just give it a pub test

that ought to do