They’re coming for the writers now;
They’ll take out poets one by one.
These tellers of the awkward truths,
Who show them up for what they are,
Appear to constitute fair game
For slingshots scrounged from death’s bazaar.
(The Ukrainian writer and poet Victoria Amelina was killed in the missile strike on the pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk).
Thank you so much, Graham. Your comment means a lot to me.
Uilleam - Thanks, I take your point, and we must always be vigilant. But, at the same time, everything is relative.
MC - In this case, the truth landed on a restaurant and killed 13 people, injuring many more. It is also true that among the victims was a noted writer and poet. For the rest, I don't really have any comment.
Ah...truth. That most elusive and ephemeral visitor to our
minds. Do you not wonder why politicians rarely mention the
word. It is because it can mean different things to different
people in varying circumstances. Propaganda is often the
exaggeration, even the distortion, of "truth". Its value (power)
lies (no pun intended) in its close affinity with "truth" in many minds. Look in the mirror. Do you see what others see? Or do
you see what YOU see? Which is true? Or are both true in
their own way?
This is seriously good Stephen! Brilliant last line, always leaves the reader shaking his/her/their head.
Long live 'the tellers of awkward truths'
Thanks Stephen,
We ought also to bear in mind that attempts to "shut up"
"tellers of the awkward truths" are also ongoing in what we view as democratic Britain.... and that many totalitarians and tyrants throughout history also wrote and read poetry.
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Stephen Gospage
Wed 5th Jul 2023 16:10
And my thanks to Nigel, Johns C&B, Hugh, Philippa, Holden, Clare, K Lynn and Manish for liking this one.