The Wall of Lies

Not all politicians are bad, but some end up there, despite the best intentions. Ah, the road to hell is paved with good intentions, as this poem tells us, in a homage to C.S. Lewis’s brilliant Screwtape letters, where an older Devil writes to a younger one, giving advice.

The Wall of Lies

Screwtape, some advice for this strange time:
Because this is the way to hide deceit and slime,
As the politicians, do, masters of their wicked art,
After we came along, seduced and stole their heart;
Narcissus, before the vote, was an ordinary man,
Or woman, let’s be fair, and they had no real plan:
Fuzzy felt they played with as children, fuzzy today,
Vagueness, generality, long winded: so they play
With the language, forging not a sword of steel,
But a stuck gramophone with the same old spiel;
Although of course it is now digital sounds to stream,
And they’ve long buried those words: I have a dream;
And that’s our doing, Screwtape, once voted in,
Power goes to them, and like a clone or evil twin
They fear failure, we can play tricks with their mind:
So that full of good intentions, and once so very kind,
They believe in their righteousness, they know best,
And somehow rule with beneficence, so blessed;
No one is good but God, but tempt them in that way,
And they won’t turn back, for fear, and so betray
All those good ideals, noble causes, great designs
We teach them well, the fine words, best lines;

And rejoice in Our Father Below, the Lord of Lies,

Where falsehood reigns, and noble truth dies;    
And that’s the snare, the bait, our secret trap:
Plain language is stolen from them, they spout crap!
Excuse the vulgar words, but you know it makes sense,
They don’t see it of course, they are so dense;

Vibrant, world class, iconic, a perfect storm:

Let empty cliché become their every norm;

A reversion to childhood, the land of fuzzy felt:

And detachment from the real world so slow,

That when coldness creeps in, they don't even know;

Remember the Snow Queen’s heart would never melt,

That’s what they become, detached, removed, apart:
That sliver of ice always buried in a beating heart;

There’s always an excuse, and scare them off

Don’t let them say sorry, that’s like a Covid cough;

Tell them it is weakness, tell them they must be strong,
And that their wall of lies is never, ever, wrong!