Epitaph

Now that he is gone and this poem has lost its immediacy and therefore any relevance for a contemporary publication, here is my epitaph for the former member for Griffith, June 2013.

The Honourable White Knight

(Epitaph to the member for Griffith – June 2013)

It’s warm now

His bright white hair sheens in the camera flashes

Black and beady eyes strobe blank as the light reflects off his specs

For milliseconds he appears blind

His hand gestures all extravagant and Lady Macbeth

Lips pursed in sincerity at the gravity of his deed, or trying to retard the grin

When the eyes are visible they shift and shunt but are always focussed

His whole body stiff in movement and faintly robotic - except for those bloody hands

It was cold

He rode on with a dagger in his back

He sabotaged and bored in and spoiled and refused to help

Some were lost coming to his aid

But it was never cryogenically frozen enough to thaw The White Knight

Only when the horizon was the only landmark did he bounce to the rescue

To knife and drown the damsel

Riding high again and drilling out opposition

This Honourable White Ant