Bathtub Messiah

I watch you like a hawk

day by day delivering speeches

that only you want to hear,

somehow managing to keep and even keel

precariously immersed in word baths,

that let you float, buoyant,

in a paper boat of threadbare emotions.

Then you drink, you drink

from that fetid sea

and suddenly you are drowning,

thrashing and lashing

fraught to grip anything, desperate

to survive just one more time,

casting out beleaguered apologies

to the fading shoreline

that can be reused

time and time again

after each rescue,

your cynical bravado polished

with the tears of your sycophantic

frightened disciples

who really hoped you’d drowned

2 thoughts on “Bathtub Messiah”

I like the analogy you’ve used here – couldn’t help but think of the U.S. president while I was reading.

Haha! V.J. I hadn’t thought of that!. In fact it is about another similarly unbalanced person. Thank you very much for your comments.

Published by grahamrsherwood