Scribbler
Old Jack was a proper little scribbler,
He’d check his stories, take pride in his notes;
But times had changed, discretion was the word.
The likes of Jack had long since burned their boats.
He knew they were keeping more than an eye;
He’d sensed them behind him in belted macs,
And seen denunciations in the press,
In nameless but insidious attacks.
The truth, that old hat, no longer sacred,
Had been supplanted by reposted lies,
Trotted out whole, date-stamped for approval,
And reinforced by corner-cruising spies.
Unwilling to tow a compromised line;
Jack tried to withdraw by staying quiet,
But now his past, extracted and exposed,
Turned contrition to a daily diet.
Stephen Gospage
Fri 18th Sep 2026 08:19
Thank you for your comments, John, Greg and David. For the leaders of increasingly dystopian societies of the world, truth and facts are one of the things they fear the most. Hence efforts to warp the truth with 'alternative facts' (very sad, as you say, Greg) and to suppress objective journalism by discrediting sources of information (and by other means). In this scenario, the future looks bleak for 'scribblers', and for the rest of us.
The way to counter this is to support and contribute to reliable sources of news.
David - Yes, there are elements of both Orwell and Huxley in what is happening now, but perhaps this 'post-truth' age is closer to what Huxley predicted. Strongmen and far-right parties offer people a feel-good nostalgia (even for the old East Germany!) in which original thought is unnecessary and where vital issues, such as climate change, are hoaxes which never have to be addressed. The Orwellian boot (and rewriting of truth) is always there, of course, at least in the background.
Actually, life is OK at the heart of Europe. There are far worse places to be at the moment, sadly! All the best to you, David.