The Placebo Diaries (5)

The Big Get Even

Perhaps it was too much
for the Sindicate to accept
such a substantial loss
Understandably upset
they put out
a 24 hour contract
on poor Leon
their number one suspect
Goons with prison haircuts
packing serious heat
under ponchos and anoraks
were scouring the streets

I advised Leon to go underground
With so high a price on his head
deep down in the catacombs
of Placebo Town
was the safest place
to lay low and play dead
but he chose to make a break for it
and hailed a taxi cab instead

Leon didn’t quite make it
He bought it on the way
to the airport as everyone
from the police down
were on the look out for him
In a city where corruption
is a team sport
and the bad guys
always seem to win
it’s hard to escape
the Sindicate’s deadly reach
Yet in Leon’s
blood soaked briefcase
they found only half
of their stolen cash
and not a gram
of that missing stash
Not one crumb!
Now ain’t that a shame?

Was Leon working
with someone else?
An unseen partner in crime?
Some mastermind of stealth?
Or perhaps just
some street vigilante
who got lucky
in getting even
for several good friends
mysteriously gone missing?

Murdering fiends
are those despicable
“Dictators of Sin”
I sincerely hope
they never find out
what I have hidden
underneath my bed
as the Sindicate
never forgives
and will never forget
Not at least
until they’re all dead

A WORD FROM OUR SPONSOR

The Seven Hills
of Placebo Town
are where the best
single origin
peccadilloes are found
Grown with pride from
the seeds of gluttony
to meet the need
that need to feed
of a greedy breed
Guaranteed
to be friendly
our peccadilloes
are rarely deadly
(at least not quickly)
When envy is a must
and you’re busting
with combustible lust
you need a peccadillo
you can truly trust
A Placebo Peccadillo ™
Don’t be a sloth!
Try one now …
or you’ll feel my wrath

Words by David B. Redpath © 2022

Artwork and Inspiration …
courtesy of Multiple Michael 🎨 © 2022

https://multiplemichael.wordpress.com/2022/07/25/picasso-24/

73 thoughts on “The Placebo Diaries (5)”

    1. Thank you muchly, Tanmay 🙏
      Yes, I was busy with this one
      changing the names of the
      victims and the villians 😎
      as I’m seriously hoping that
      the Sindicate have forgotten
      all about poor innocent me 😇

      Liked by 5 people

      Reply

  2. Crime poetry David? I’ve never read anything like this. Well let’s hope the syndicate doesn’t read this! But I’m guessing they’re more interested in roughing up pizza shop owners so that they pay for protection than reading stuff on a blog. Brilliant stuff though. I enjoyed reading it.

    Liked by 7 people

    Reply

    1. Greatly appreciated, Nitin.
      Thanks for validating my venture
      into disorganised crime.
      Yes, this poem has no connection
      with a certain Pizzeria in Brooklyn.
      Anyway, I was home on Long Island
      at the time.

      Liked by 6 people

      Reply

  5. I suppose there is no harm in trying
    a ‘Placebo Peccadillio’
    I could always pretend to be another
    old ‘Armadillo’
    from the South American city
    of Rio de Janeiro

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

    1. The interesting thing, Ivor, is that
      the Seven Hills of Placebo Town
      are all active volcanoes 🌋
      as sulphur fumes produce the
      very best peccadilloes 🥇🏆
      Just don’t go picking them yourself
      or you’ll burn your toes off 🦶 🔥

      Liked by 4 people

      Reply

    1. Yes … the Sindicate is a disgrace
      Sin does tend to dictate
      as it deviates all over the place
      Whereas hope elevates
      like the gentlest touch of grace
      But sometimes we just need
      a good hard slap to the face 😎

      Thanks for indulging my verses,
      Buckeye 🙏 I’ll be sure to light a
      candle for you at the Cathedral
      of Hard Knocks🕯️😇 🕶️

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

      1. Young? (Laughing). I was called the Antichrist in a public meeting once. I am pretty well removed from the popular culture and their placebos and sins. I have my own years of sins to deal with.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. The consolation of old age.
        Growing old disgracefully,
        remembering one’s youthful
        indiscretions … without any
        meddling parental supervision.
        That, and the getting of wisdom 🤔

        Liked by 2 people

      5. I told the woman, who after calling me a string of foul expletives before calling me the Antichrist (did I mention she was pissed?), that Nero was the Antichrist, but she insisted it had to be me. All I was doing was trying to uphold the rule of law. Can you imagine that?

        Liked by 2 people

      7. Only one in that case. What was funny is that years later we were at a friend’s son’s graduation party.The woman I pissed off was his piano teacher. She sat next to me at the party. My wife kept nudging me and whispering: “Isn’t that the woman who called you the Antichrist?” I whispered back “Yes! Don’t remind her or all Hell will break loose!”

        Liked by 2 people

      8. Its interesting, Timothy.
        I married a music teacher, who’s
        grand on the piano 🎹 Also I had
        an Auntie Chris, but she was very
        nice, and a bit of a saint as she made
        no complaint when I burnt Rome
        down, including her house 🏡🔥😎

        Liked by 1 person

  14. A masterful piece; I love the word ‘peccadillo’ and its penchant for playfulness; the artwork is stunning, David; you’re pushing that envelope about as far as it can go without tearing ; or is it me pushing the metaphor? love the word play too 🙂 and the gritty narrative —

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Muchos apreciado, John 🙏
      You’ve seen right through
      the thin veil of my motivation,
      as I endeavoured to rip the
      envelope a new one (as they
      say in the classics). But then,
      I learnt everything I know
      on the poetically alien streets
      of Placebo Town ✌️👽

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  15. Glad to see you’ve tried your hand at writing a narrative poem, David.

    Quite a lot of narrative poetry was written in the 18th and 19th Centuries.

    But it seemed to have been forgotten in the 20th Century.

    I’ve tried writing a few narrative poems since 2013.

    Glad to see someone is joining me

    I thoroughly enjoyed your story of Leon and the sindicate in poetic form.

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Greatly appreciated, Christopher.

      I have previously tried emulating
      my poetic hero, Henry Wadsworth
      Longfellow, but in this age of fast
      food and instant gratification, I’d
      often get a reaction of, “Hey fellow,
      this twaddle of yours is too long!”
      (assuming they’d be referring to
      my writing?). I can only imagine
      Longfellow getting similar critiques
      when his ‘The Song of Hiawatha’
      was first published.
      Christopher, where did human
      civilisation go wrong, and become
      so uncivilised? Was it the advent
      of Television … or possibly, maybe,
      the invention of the Atomic Bomb?
      Perhaps I’ll go ask that Vladimir
      Putin? He seems to have a hand
      in what’s going on.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  18. Overall, I just love the design and colors you use on your blog. It pops. I have always wanted to make mine pop off the screen but I always thought the words would do that as well.

    anyway looks great. your style is genuine

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thanks for that, Christian 🙏
      This post was a collaboration,
      with Multiple Michael providing
      the artwork 🎨
      Your, ‘So, What’s The Deal With
      You & Miley Cyrus?’ certainly
      had an eye popping moment 😎
      We do tend to read with our eyes.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply
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