The Extremist In Wonderland

 

the breaking news strapline rolls across the screen
caught finally
hunted down
trapped and cornered like a wild and dangerous rabid animal
shot dead by intelligence officers
thankfully the danger now over
normal service will resume shortly
this crazy individual is no longer a threat to us all
our way of life
the brave officers are thanked by the prime minister
and the majesty and the city..

so i chill out and watch a cake baking show
a judge looks at a contestant and proclaims
this blancmange is good enough to eat..in france
the contestant now crying because he made a nice blancmange
a blancmange that is good enough to eat..in france..

and all makes sense now
and again everything falls into its proper perspective
and again all is in its right place
and again there is a god..

but i gaze out the window
i am afraid i cannot help myself
pondering and questioning while recollecting..

so this whole strange nonsense began late last year
he always hit them/us randomly
then disappeared
seemingly effortlessly vanished
vanished just vanished..

the essential questions were asked
who is he..
why..
is he doing this alone or is he part of a secret network..
and what are his motivations..
when and where will this unhinged disrupter strike next..

his first time oh where was it
yes his first hit was in that shopping precinct
funny thing is i go there sometimes
it could have been me then
how my life would have profoundly changed
i know that i am being selfish thinking like that
but there it is..

then that music festival
he struck right when the headliner was playing
becoming more brazen
right out there in the open air 
he then casually walked away
so casually
lost himself in the melee
around eighty-thousand people affected
granted some more than others
but they all witnessed it
when interviewed some witnesses were crying
weeping that they could never be the same again
they felt so different now
how could they remain unaffected
after seeing all of it
and after feeling all of it..

and again and again and again he hit
another cinema hall
another night club
another restaurant
another place of worship
one bus after another
one train after another
one airport after another
he would not stop
perhaps he could not stop
he never issued any kind of warning
he hit again and again and again
male female black brown white rich poor young old
it seemed to make no difference to him at all
one hospital ward after another
one hospice after another
a few times he even hit veterinary surgeries
imagine that
even animals were a target
there was no stopping him
no place was off limits
what was he thinking the media asked
what gave hime the right..

and some people were beginning to see him as a hero..

the experts did a psychological profile
surprise surprise the experts solemnly deduced
he probably kept himself to himself 
probably had no friends
probably unemployed or a remote worker
some kind of..something
someone who did not be want to be noticed
someone who did not share our values
therefore an extremist
and what could be worse than that
we were directed
that we should not want to be like him
not to think like him
not to act like him..

after ploughing through all the cctv images
and cross referencing them with all the other state surveillance data
finally they were able to narrow down his base of operations
but it took a while
he did not make it easy for them
he was always one step ahead
some asked whether he had a sympathiser on the inside
either way he was calculating he was ruthless and he was clever..

but in the dead of last night
they tightened the noose
he was on them though
and he ran down an alleyway to make his escape
but they were waiting
and they shot dead the random healer
for they had no other option..