They may not go gently

What if we take them

the celebrities

all to one place?

Because the problem is not

so much that they exist

-         all right, I get it, people like them, it makes them feel safe or that things are in their right place

the problem is

that they pop up everywhere

their whitened teeth and maniacal grins

and ironic humour and

over developed senses of self

frightening those of us who are looking for something else

-         some other anchor or balloon in life

They leak into waters where they are not supposed to be

infecting art and literature

seeping into home cooking

clawing their tentacles across

dog walking and tree planting and adventure hiking and asylum seeking

Leaving no place sacred any more for the ordinary

unremarkable unrecognisable quiet ticking

not much happening here thanks and we like it that way

of what used to pass for every day life

So here’s what I think

We take them

-         lure them, trick them, drug them, beat them, promise them, herd them, flatter them, feed them – however we get them there I don’t care, there are smart people around who know what to do, how to motivate and move them, satisfy and soothe them, just get them into ONE place and cyclone fence it and guard dog it and electromagnify it and then shut the gigantic gate and lock it

And we will still watch them

that channel will run 24/7

- more if that smart person can work out how to pummel extra hours into each day

So they will be on – they will always be on – so they won’t feel sad or strange or bad and the people who need to see them don’t have to pine or whine or panic or go mad

But for the rest of us

-         those who have had to stop turning on the TV and opening the paper and walking out the door and going to the market for fear of the constant bombardment of their insidious smiling presence (“Oh look at me! I once learned some words off by heart and they put me on the telly and now I have an opinion about everything from Al Jazirah to jelly!”)

For us

finally

there may be

some peace

Cause we know that channel’s there

and we can turn it on

those dark lonely nights when we miss their shiny lights

But the rest of the time

we can get back

to the ordinary chaos

of our blissfully uninteresting, monotonous, uncelebrated

lives