Darkness has fallen, an angry orange gleam, a slashing sash of fire, smouldering at the fringes of the heavy onyx curtains that blank the horizon.

Some welcome the shade, scorning the scorch of desert storms, fever pitches, Montezuma’s revenge, or simply light upon the bulbous blister of brown oxide scales spreading on iron frames. 

Others feel their drawstrings tighten around their throats, their wrists, their limbs, trussed for the slaughter they’ve always remembered. No more trust for the ides of November.

Theatre is a game played in the shadows, by the shadows, for the shadows. Indonesia calls it wayangkulit, a silhouetted procession of clowns and monsters, fallen heroes and brazen impostors.Shows play in real time, to the tinkling percussion of the gamelan. The nayaga, who play this progression of mallets, metallophones and xylophones know as acutely as the high notes reaching towards the intended climax who pays for the performance.

We are taxed, but don’t write checks or balances. Here, the shows have been pre-scripted and pre-recorded. There’s always the fear of something live jumping out of the narrative. Sorry, Bernie.

You didn’t buy a ticket? Fine, watch outside the fence that is not yet a wall. Roast some corn. Pour something cold and frothy into a plastic glass more transparent than the content of tonight’s act. Wait for the curtains to rise once more.

Applaud, cheer, boo, hiss, jeer to the loudest of your abilities. Your silence is not golden. Your voices add to the chorus.

Your reviews may just help this revue become great again. Or cancel its run. Don’t blame this pantomime- you’re the ones who wanted to watch.

This poem, written in the aftermath of the 2016 US presidential election, critiques the administration of Donald Trump, but also the apathy of the voters. “Bernie” is reference to the 2016 Democratic Primary candidate and Senator Bernard “Bernie” Sanders. The Indonesian wayangkulit is an Indonesian shadow-puppet play, the gamelan is a traditional instrumental ensemble in Indonesia that includes many bronze percussion instrument, and the nayagaare the musicians who play the gamelan.