The Prime Minister Regrets (October 2022)
That smoking gun,
warm in my hand,
and the scarlet pool
on the tiled floor;
the white shirt spattered
and the mute stillness
of the cold corpse
might seem to some a proof
(now that you mention it)
of culpable wrong-doing.
But context is important here
and all is not what it seems.
I had no idea that the raised gun
and the pulled trigger
might result in such a scene.
Believe me, sincerely.
Do not rush to judgement,
or call me an arrogant oaf
whose lease is too long extended
who lies, easily, as others breathe
until the truth seems a word
light as an autumn leaf
that falls in a bright spiral
of papery flight, prettily.
