Man of the People

A poem finished today that I have been fiddling with for 6 months or so. I say in the introduction that it’s dedicated to Nigel Farage but, in reality, although he is the poem’s subject, I really should dedicate it to the UK Supreme Court, and in particular Baroness Hale, whose decision today spurred me to finish this piece of doggerel. This was a great day for parliamentary democracy when even Farage has criticised King Boris’s decision to prorogue parliament!

Man of the People

He stands before camera, pint glass in hand

Cigarette held in nicotine stained fingers

But his image very carefully planned

To massage the way his message lingers

Flattering the nationalistic masses

Threatening thoughts throughout the land

That numb the minds of the drinking classes

Shouting from every tower and steeple

That he is the only real man of the people

He doesn’t need to play by the rules

Nor to respond to any unwanted question

Most who ask them are treated as fools

As he rails at any critical suggestion

But he’s only interested in his ardent supporters

The media are simply his tools

That help brainwash our citizens, sons and daughters

This man of the people succeeds

Where others have failed to address their needs

For he promises that which no-one can deliver

Unicorns that will never pass in the night

His insincerity may make good souls shiver

And even his friends sometimes take fright

But none of this really matters

For he need be no charity giver

As he takes from those whose lives are in tatters

This man of the people craves greater power

Let’s hope some see reason when cometh the hour