A Poem by The Sixty Second Scribe
There’s not much I can do
I’m feeling helpless again
So all that I can do is say
It is not done in my name
Not Done In My Name
poetry
X-Odus
A Poem by the Sixty Second Scribe
The arguments for leaving X
That list’s been much debated
And since the Musk child took the reins
The list’s been Elon-gated
So if you know the time is up
But need something to do
Then join us in our X-odus!
To skies more clear and blue.
Niemoller’s Lament
The Sixty Second Scribe
The Queen is dead - and across our whole nation
Protest was deemed worthy of eternal damnation
So for those who felt that hereditary monarchy
Had no place in a modern democratic society
There was no opportunity for peaceful demonstration.
God save the King - a new proclamation
Protest was deemed worthy of eternal damnation
As the changeover happened immediately
Just as god had decreed it apparently
So there was no opportunity for peaceful demonstration.
Some months have passed - the King’s coronation
Protest was deemed worthy of eternal damnation
As those who protested, were arrested, we see
Protest is illegal now, apparently
So there was no opportunity for peaceful demonstration.
Monarchist or not, speak out in condemnation
Lest Niemoller’s warning, with slight adaptation
“They came for the republicans initially,
So how long must pass till they’re coming for me?”
And there’ll be no opportunity for peaceful demonstration.
Unrealistic Expectations
The Sixty Second Scribe
You can’t expect that somebody
With the best that bupa offers
Would defend the NHS when
People seek to shrink its coffers
You can’t expect that somebody
With millions in their pocket
Would defend a raise to benefits
Instead of trying to block it
You can’t expect that somebody
With millions in the bank
Would pass a law that takes from people
With millions in the bank
You can’t expect that somebody
Who sends their kids to Eton
Would support your local schools
When they start to look moth-eaten
You can’t expect that somebody
Who’s never been short of notes
Would act in other’s interests
So why keep giving them our votes?
Disunion
A Poem by The Sixty Second Scribe
If there is no mechanism by which
You can choose to leave a union
Then what you are in is not
Whatever anyone may say, a union
A union requires active consent
And with no means to withdraw consent
Then what you are in is not
Whatever anyone may say, a union
Without consent, you are a colony
And if you are colonised
Then you may take any means necessary
To free yourself from your chains.
Go free my cousins. Go free.
Scribal Gathering Showcase – 7th June 2022
The Sixty Second Scribe (and current Bard of Stony Stratford) is a special guest at the Scribal Gathering Showcase at The Crown in Stony Stratford, on the 7th June 2022 as part of StonyLive! A 20 minute set of mainly new material, beautifully filmed by Ian Newman, hosted by Jonathan JT Taylor and with sound by Duncan Carter.
031 – Time to Break Out
Time to Break Out
Never before have I witnessed
Contempt for the truth on this scale
As ministers queue up to lie to
Defend an intolerable tale
They feel their careers’ are unthreatened
That there’s nothing can bring them to book
As long as they just keep on lying
They don’t care how all of this looks
So they lie and deceive to our faces
And expect that we’ll just stay in tow
So we have to make sure that despite that
They end their careers as they go
When Cummings resigns, and he will soon
It must not be the end of this mess
All those who chose to support him
Have questions they need to address
This wasn’t some error of judgement
Or a momentary lapse under strain
It was carefully thought out and conscious
And it sought to deceive us again
These people are not to be trusted
They’ve shown such contempt for us all
We cannot and must not accept this
Let’s break ourselves out of their thrall.
(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020
030 – Bursting the Bubble
Bursting the Bubble
I couldn’t conceive a more suitable case
To describe why I’d never vote Tory
Than watching our ministers leap to defend
#classicdom and his Durham trip story
The country has followed instructions
To the letter with all that entails
Often at tragically personal loss
As the common good had to prevail
It brought out the best in our nation
A courageous and mutual endeavour
Though often at deep individual cost
We stood as a nation together.
But today shows that that was a mirage
And that bubble has brutally burst
As ministers queue up to tell us
That it’s ok to put yourself first.
What message that sends to those grieving
And who’ll live with decisions they made
For them now to be told they were wrong to
All so Johnson keeps hold of his aide.
(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020
029 – He Turned
He Turned
I’m standing applauding your u-turn
You’re doing what’s good and what’s right
Though denying you had to be dragged here
Does not seem to be all that bright
You had a good chance to be humble
To show that you’re open to change
But to try and pretend this was always your plan
Seems more than a little bit strange
I know, you’d be pounced on by idiots
But they’ll do that whatever you do
It’s those with more sense need to trust you
And to know what you’re saying is true
You’re pushing us into a corner
Where we’re doubting each thing that you say
So for christ’s sake admit when you’ve screwed up
Our mistrust then, might start to allay.
(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020
028 – Start The Clock Again
Start The Clock Again
Can you see the pattern?
Have you worked out how they do it?
First they claim they’re in control
When pressed, they bluff right through it.
Then they change their story
And deny what’s said before
And then they’ll set a target
Which they know that they’ll ignore.
Then they’ll claim they’ve hit it
And then they cough and bluster
Then promise ‘jam tomorrow’
With all the vigour they can muster
And all this stays unchallenged
Not a soul prepared to say
This doesn’t match the promises
You made on previous days
So track and trace looms large
World class by 1st June
And as the day approaches
We’ll eat up all they spoon
And when their plan is shown
To be something less than claimed
They’ll set another target
And we’ll start the clock again
(c) Michael Gurner – May 2020