More Miscreants

Hermes Unmasked

Kane helped to change the world, but Kane’s world now is history. 

From Orson Welles’ Film Citizen Kane

So there you rule you fool

Heir apparent to the whole world

Potentate emperor sovereign monarch

What’s in a name?

Your media deeds whatever your name would be the same

Those rags

The things that you control

Are petty strings

That you pull according to your will

They are not tools of a god

Though you wield your pen at times

As if it were Thor’s hammer 

Your tabloids are odious voices scattered around the globe 

Yes and it’s you in your dealmaker’s robe 

Who is the omniscient sleuth

Deciding on the truth they are allowed to convey

So that’s it

We have established your status

But what of the hiatus?

How far can we trust you?

You a would-be icon grasping power

You yes you

You who decides what we learn 

While the other information 

Is left to burn

Your news is no more than your approved verdict

On what we lesser souls

Deserve to know

But we the little people need not dismay

For you will be dead one day

Like all of us

And history will write your obituary 

Totally free of your editorial influence

____________________

Pillage Of The Village

There’s a green one, and a pink one And a blue one and a yellow one And they’re all made out of ticky tacky And they all look just the same  From “Little Boxes,” a song sung by Pete Seeger

So 

You plan to cut up our parklands

Dig up the grass and make a pass

Without a moral suture

At developers who fund their own future

That’s it then

Let the wonders of time

Yield to the crime of so called progress

No no no

It must not be so

The beauty of the ages

Treasured buildings of the past

Wondrous designs all meant to last

Open fields of world renown

The very spirit of the town

Are not yours to disown

All this is a universal need

Such riches must be saved 

From the jaws of greed

There is a glory

In the story

Of timeless heritage from the past

You must not pillage our golden village

Or the world will scream aghast

So remember this

Nothing will be amiss

If you value the legacies we treasure

Avoid the pain and help us maintain

The gifts only time can measure

____________________

A Lump Of Coal

An extrovert once in a fit of malaise

Hatched a wild plan to gather some praise

So he blackened his name and damaged his soul

And he held up a lump of coal

But the fires raged and the rains came

Until frightened people cursed his name

But this life of the party stayed calm on the whole

And he held up a lump of coal

Then the drought lasted and the storms blasted

And the masses used words such as guilty bastard

Yet the lively chap still stuck to his role

And he held up a lump of coal

Next oceans rose and washed away houses

It was doom of the kind that fear arouses

While the newsmaker tried for another goal

And he held up a lump of coal

Soon guilt was forming with the fearsome storming

As the world was wracked by global warming

Yet our star felt safe if linked to a poll

And he held up a lump of coal

Now folly is a roof that leaks in the rain

Only fools keep doing what brings them disdain

But a judge asked our man what caused the death toll

And he held up a lump of coal

____________________

Guilt

Smoking kills

Call the Quitline Now

Get your cigarettes here

Default urban speed limit is 50 K

Our latest model will speed you away

Alcohol can cause heart and liver disease or stroke

It’s a bargain: half price sale of LEONARDO’S beer today

_________________________________________________________

I am only a simple old working chap

As any one can see

But when I see folly and refuse to clap

Life is rewarding to me

It’s the thoughtless seller named Xerxes Jones

Who rattles my brain and stirs my bones

His is the stall I say with regret

Where you can buy your cigarette

Then there’s seedy speedy Leonidas Reed

Whose ads display cars built for speed

The vision we see has a grand prix role

That does not halt the state road toll

Among this group is Phidias Droll

Who makes his money from alcohol

The display for him is friendly and charming

But the violence news is quite alarming

So there you have it form with the norm

Of what might be called pretence

The need for profit makes people conform

With deeds that have little sense

Yet things can alter and rearrange

If we simply stop and think

There are many ways we can bring on change

When we breathe and drive and drink

Here’s a toast to that with a tit for tat

And I’ll turn you away from the slaughter

I’ll not smoke or speed to live longer indeed

And I’ll drink to your health with water

____________________

Consultant

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah fiddle de dee

I’m a consultant for your spending spree

You seek advice lest profit be lost

You’re ready to pay me whatever the cost

Yes I’ll advise you dear client – relax

My fees you deduct from your income tax

There is one idea that now we don’t mention

How to dupe clients if that’s your intention

Of course I will help with a priceless plan

It’s the oldest gambit known to man

First praise your product with a testimonial

Make it seem great with due ceremonial

Then you double the price and market frantically

Make it alluring with a woman romantically

Offer low interest with time to spare

Then ride easy while others pay the fare

There are more schemes you might like to know

Many subtle ways to make income flow

Tobacco is a gainful ticket upstairs

If you sprinkle your funds on its stocks and shares

But there is a warning to keep things sunny

Work where you can with other people’s money

And things will be fine if you have people sign

Their lives away on a devious mine

Yes dig it up or cut it down

That’s a sure way to gain renown

There I stop

I now predict your thanks from the banks

As you join the redoubtable magnate’s ranks

And I will be pleased to serve you well

You will be safe when under my spell

But remember this

Whatever the task I will not begin it

Unless I’m convinced there’s money in it

While if we work as a triumphant pair

You will have to ignore my bursts of hot air

royciebaby