Now Is Not The Time
The story of B. Wildered, who wanted to see his king…
If you live in the UK, you’ll be used to the nearly-outgoing government using the phrase “Now is not the time.” For example, “Now is not the time to reward NHS staff with a pay rise after they saved us all during the pandemic” … “Now is not the time to feed our children” … “Now is not the time to stop the fuel companies profiteering” … “Now is not the time to govern for the people who elected us (even though we’re hoping they’ll do it again).”
Now was not the time to deal with whatever was going through the mind of a man who, a couple of days ago, wandered up to the front of Buckingham Palace amid preparations for the coronation weekend. Allegedly armed, he was soon being walked backwards into a police van, to be detained under the Mental Health Act.
I watched the news reportage on a muted TV in a pub, wondering why the cops were making him walk backward. Was it to protect his identity? Was it to hide a wound or something else on his face? Or even… when you leave the royal court, you’re supposed to walk backwards a few steps so as to show honour to the monarch in his or her presence. Had he asked to do that in a mark of respect?
I’ll probably never know. But I was certain I was watching a very bewildered person in some kind of trauma. And I wondered what his story might be – why he felt it had been important to act.
And this is what I came up with at the bar:
I took my s-word to the palace and asked to see my king
The officer politely said, “You can’t - but what’s that thing?”
I told him: “It’s a weapon - the sharpest I could find
A word that must be spoke aloud to detonate a mind”
And as they walked me backward to the waiting prison van
A cop said “Spike your s-word - it’ll blow apart The Plan.”
