༺ bucket ༻

the big wig explained
just how very big
his bigness really was
power-pointing his way
through charts and numbers
apparently proving
spectacular successes
a God of code
a titan of acumen

when he came into a room
everyone shut up
and fixed their eyes
on their screens

he would stride past
bigly
and if we remained
unfired
someone would sing
the Darth Vader theme
“daaan daaan daaan
dun derdaaan
dun derdaaan”

we felt the relief of rabbits
when the tiger passes by
in search
of bigger game

his big meeting
in the big hall
turned out
to be a valediction
he had been removed
effectively sent
to Siberia
the levers of power
exchanged
for the straightening
of paper-clips

he finished
his big hurrah
and closed his laptop
tucked it under his arm
and paced away
no-one
made eye contact

apart from a slight squeaking
from his shoes
he left
in pin-drop silence

suddenly
my heart went out to him
what is it
to pretend to rule the world
and be
friendless?