He...

He...

Could have been a holy man

The way he bowed his head down low

As if in prayer

Or supplication

Beseeching his soul to keep

Even as he sat

Elbows on the table

Head in hands

As if the weight of the world

Was carried upon his shoulders

Nobody seemed to notice

There was an invisible wall

Dividing him from everyone else

As they carried on about their business

Discussing this, debating that

The world was in a state of disrepair

It was time to mend it over lunch

Avocado smash with fresh Basil,

Sun-dried tomatoes on organic sourdough

It was all the fault of the baby-boomers

Somebody needed to care

Perhaps the pandemic would weed them out

Nobody was sure who said what

But there was always a nod of approval

At the thought of euthanasia as a choice

The ethical dilemmas were never

Fully resolved

After all, some of them believed

Vaccinations were unnecessary

Big pharma was part of a global cabal

Perhaps they hadn’t noticed

The calliper on the old man’s leg

Or heard him whisper

‘Polio could make a comeback

If you had your way’

They didn’t listen to people

Over the age of fifty

They were both invisible and at fault

So of course

They had to be ignored

None of them understood the irony

Of espousing their woke views

On discriminatory, patriarchal

Narrative formulations

Whilst simultaneously discounting

The views of so many people

They believed were complicit

The man yawned

As he lifted his head

His eyes burned

With a passionate fury

Before reverting to a blank

Weary myopic squint

He hadn’t the energy to argue

So rather than fight

He shook his head

And said

‘Perhaps you need to remember

How you got to be where you are

The things you say remind

Me of that, white, male

Middle-aged Aussie politician

Who said he didn’t speak to the English,

Forgetting it was the English

Who stole the country and gave him

The authority and privilege

He had to make such stupid remarks

In the first place.’

With that, he limped away

Before turning

And throwing them a line

‘I will see you at three

For the tutorial…be on time

The world won’t wait.’