HCE received a lot of high-quality submissions for The Brutal Issue – sadly, too many to fit inside the magazine! So we offered some of our shortlisted contributors the chance to be published on our website.
Keep an eye on our social media for more great writing like this, in the run up to the release of The Brutal Issue…
Yet Another Musical Star
John Maguire
Nobody is around,
So, I CAN talk to you
And of course, generally look down.
Who are you anyway?
I’ve forgotten your name.
A spear-carrier?
Oh, stage crew.
Not one of the director’s numerous old flames?
I AM SUUUUUUCH A SUCCESS!
Oh what a star.
Unfortunately, reality is NOT so glamorous,
Fucking directors in a borrowed, clapped out old car.
I will call you gorgeous, when no one else can hear.
Ignore and then flirt with you, whispers for the ear.
The truth is I am jealous, to be young and fresh, not lazy.
Carrying one’s insecurities after thirty years, guaranteed to make the sanest crazy.
Have you seen my divine portrait in the foyer?
Yes, it was me once, I think.
Only to be quite frank, I do not know who I am anymore.
The camera never lies, aren’t we told?
But. . . with the aid of make-up, concealer, foundation and cement,
Money and time, time well spent!
Oi! Oh, I mean heart; it is true you are the sad one now,
But when one’s honest with oneself,
And the years have passed,
Funnily enough,
It will always be me kissing everybody else’s ass.
