Mise En Scene

 

If you begin with

despair and politics,

if you invest heavily

in allegory,

you are expected jolly well

to carry on wheeling it out.

Don’t let them smell fear or doubt.

 

You can debate la difference

between the plot, the script and the narrative.

These days I love the mise en scene.

I get by on the smallest incentive.

 

If you commence with

a full head of hair concealing big ideas,

rational and irrational fears,

aim at the target that’s marked ‘ridiculous’

and then you might just hit the one that’s labelled ‘serious’.

 

You can debate la difference

between the plot, the script and the narrative.

These days I love the mise en scene.

I only have the smallest incentive…

 

…to carry on.

 

You can discuss the right and wrong.

I’ll squander time on writing pop songs.

These days I love the simple life.

Just keep calm and carry on.

 

But save me from these poets.

Spare me from these poets.