That was then, this is now
King Chipkins’s castle is under siege
From the Blue Meanies.
Outnumbered, outgunned and panicked,
His advisors plead with their King.
“There is only one chance, O Great One,
bring out your secret weapon: the Capital Gains Blunderbuss!”
“Never in a million years,”
The Captain makes his Call to eternity.
His armies lose all hope, drop their pikes,
And flee. The war is lost.
Three months later,
Ex-King Chipkins is exiled in a small dank cave.
“It is now time to roll out the Capital Gains Blunderbuss!”
Demands the King to his bemused advisors.
“But My Lord,” asks the last remaining scribe
From the Australian Broadcasting Corporation,
“You said never in a million years….”
“That was then, this is now!”
Proclaims the fickle Ex-King to his cheering band.
Six months later,
The Brief Reign of the Blue Meanies is over.
Reappointed King Chipkins is back in his Castle
And holds his High Council with a visiting delegation
Of landlords, merchants and money changers.
A crowd of muddy nobodies gather in the town square.
“My lord!” Chant the oppressed serfs,
“Where is the Capital Gains Blunderbuss you promised?”
“Oh,” says King Chipkins,
closing the shutters firmly
on the noisome rabble far below.
“That was then –
And this is now.”
Victor Billot has previously felt moved to write Odes to the Green’s Elf Queen, The Regent Seymour, King Luxon, and Lord Winston.
