Somebody dug him up
put his finger in a cup
in a case in a fancy place
with a note attached
the letters in ya face
reading "here you see
digit of the Bard, historically
the one that guided his quill."

And they aged a manuscript
some old book they'd ripped
and stained to look real
so you got the feel
peering into the cabinet
of how close you can get
to a piece of our heritage
a fiver sets the stage
so you can buy a glimpse
of a wonder of our Age.

"Cool," say two youths aloud
ignoring cameras on the crowd
and wondering what he wrote
they'd heard of the bloke
but never seen the film
and after a selfie or two
they reluctantly withdrew
leaving others to reflect
before the gift shop crawl
merchandising it all
the cash machine cow
and in the queue is heard
"I wonder what he'd be doing now?"
to which another responded icily
"most likely writing for the BBC
doing some Alan Bennett thing."
*Till ring* £1.80 for a finger keyring
culture dies again to commercialism
as they wonder who else can be risen.



© .Garry Saunders