Stop dragging the chain

And shit kicking the can down the well-travelled road,

Encapsulated in a nutshell, a glib gibe to divert

A good waffling to distract and alert the listener

To the urgent and unguent matters of the day

On high rotation replay on all manner of media,

Fake news by and by any other name

For sake of separating the wheat from the chaff.

Twice shy to twitch like symptoms of bed bug

Infestations, rabies or scabies, take your pick;

The trick is to resist the urge to scratch,

Or succumb to lockjaw’s flaws in mockery

Of the scourge prevarication ad infinitum,

As it’s all Latin to me.

Cheap shots like a high vis-a-vis photo opportunity

Complete with Noddies and other archetypal classics

Only Enid Blyton could endorse;

Of course, the dance of the press gallery is not so ensured

Or inured to the proposition of recourse to the foible

That a pinch of salt outdoes a sugar cube to befuddle

The pitch that truths can only come from a horse’s mouth,

Especially on race day.

Michael Haward