.

As a Matter of Course

for Ethan Gutmann, pioneer in investigating organ harvesting by the Chinese Communist Party

Of course, you are a wanted man
__on Party databases—
So too are you a wanted man
__by those who’d wipe the traces

Of Party obfuscating haze,
__its choking smoke and mirrors,
Its dis-cum-navigating ways,
__its booby traps, snipe triggers.

Of course you are a wanted man
__by Party two-faced faces—
But also you’re a wanted man
__by those who’d break the braces

Of ghouls who’d lead us to dead ends
__with Falun Gong adherents
And Uyghur genocidal trends
__that pep up power’s appearance.

But though you are a wanted man,
__though monsters want hot dinners,
Though demons gobble what they can,
__including Party sinners,

Poor devils have low acumen,
__they gorge in senseless rapture
And are made sick by upright men
__so you are hard to capture!

.

.

Damian Robin is a writer and editor living in the United Kingdom.

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4 Responses

  1. Margaret Coats

    Just intricate enough to demand thinking as I went through all the clever rhymes! Deep regard for Gutmann emerges through all the obfuscating images of what opposes him. That was not an easy plan of composition, Damian, but you carry it out well, with a clear escape at the end.

    Reply
  2. Damian Robin

    Thank you, Margaret. Very insightful comments. And I’m honoured to have your praise.

    Reply

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