The tributes amass, the media chimes
out the pre-rehearsed phraseology:
“a life of service … a man of his times”

and woe betide anyone who begrimes
with a smear of truth this man’s memory.
The tributes amass. The media chimes

its dull carillon of state-approved rhymes:
nobility … dignity … history …
a life of service. A man of his times,

a racist lording it in foreign climes,
the natives expected to bend the knee.
The tributes amass, the media chimes:

world leaders weigh in. Their quotes are sublime,
teleprompter whitewash used liberally:
a life of service, a man of his times.

Flags at half-mast. Follow the sad clown’s mime,
black-armband a myth, mourn self-consciously.
The tributes amass, the media chimes
a life of service, a man of his times.

Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons