R.J. Stove: Ozymandias’s Harbourside Mansion

Ozymandias’s Harbourside Mansion

I met a traveller from Menzies Land,
Who said: “Two gross and charmless vocal cords,
Rasping against each other, still demand
That we abase ourselves to Wall Street’s lords.
‘I come to bring, not peace, but Whiggish swords,
Smeared with snakes’ venom, forged by Wilhelm Reich,
Slicing up true conservatives’ accords,
Planned by such men as Adenauer and Ike.
Je Suis Charlie, of course. De jure tyke,
Papist, bead-squeezer, I’m de facto free
From all delusions held by pious geese,
Which might offend our great democracy,
And thwart my mission syphilisatrice.
Put away churches and such childish things!
You’ll drain the dregs of nihilism’s cup.
My name is Malcolm Turnbull, King of Kings.
Look on my works, ye peasants, and shut up!’.”

R.J. Stove