The Assassin Sonnets: S to Z

S: STRANGE

There are strange forces at work in the world.
Diane believes in UFOs and ghosts,
amongst other things, while Jon’s faith is placed
in what is palpable. Yet tachyons
and quarks are just as difficult to prove.

‘The flags of love remain forever furled.’
He hears these words and turns to watch the band.

Their singer is a woman, whose command
of the stage is effortless, as she coasts
through each number and the music is graced
by her performance. The grim environs
of the bar are transformed by her cool groove.

‘Sheila Tarn and the Tarnations! Let’s hear
it for the girls!’ Even Jon joins the cheer.

T: TEMPTED

He slips backstage with the quiet cunning
of his art. He looks as if he belongs -
and so he does. It does not take him long
to find her dressing room. Sounds of running
water mask his entry. Sheila showers
and he admires her curves through frosted glass.
His intent is deadly, but this is farce.

He is tempted to abuse his powers
and become a Peeping Tom. Or enact
that famous scene from ‘Psycho’, if only
a knife were at hand. It is so lonely
to be without a weapon; to exact
his purpose in such naked terms. She turns
the taps off and his bravado returns.

U: UNCOMFORTABLE

‘Well, this is certainly a cut above.’
He quaffs a glass of her after gig wine
and salutes her towelled and turbaned form
as she emerges from the perfumed steam.

‘Do come in and make yourself comfy, love.’
She sits and waits to hear what corny line
he has to sell. Though blue, her eyes are warm
as summer skies, despite their icy gleam.

There are scissors on the dressing table
he could thrust into the base of her skull
and sever her spinal cord. It’s a thought.

Or he could strangle her with the cable
of her hair dryer. But that would be dull.
He hesitates and the moment is fraught.

V: VOICE

Diane waits impatiently in the bar.
There is something contrived about the vibe
of this manufactured scene; post modern
pockets of plastic packaged neo-punk.

In pursuit of Kopek, she has strayed far
from her life’s path. Surrounded by a tribe
of lifestyle anarchists in her coven
of one; she drinks still water, yet feels drunk.

She spots Sheila, with her cerise coiffure
that looks almost natural with her choice
of clothes and make-up; her charms obvious
in a Barbie doll way. Jon looks unsure
as he walks beside her and in his voice
a tone that makes Diane feel envious.

W: WHATEVER

Back in his minimal black and white flat,
Kopek is distracted.

Despite Diane’s
best efforts, he stays flaccid.

Though he has
‘stabbed’ her repeatedly and witnessed her
convulsed in the throes of le petit mort,
he has not made the overt connection
between penetrative wounds and the act
of sex.

Whatever self awareness he
possesses is subsumed by metaphors
of a different nature.

In modern
tarot decks, Death is often replaced by
Transformation.

‘Are you thinking of her?’

Some questions are so wide of the mark, they
are meaningless.

Some answers are silent.

X: XENOLITHIC

‘We are all stars, to - Each constellation
some extent. What I - is testament to
do is make room in - synchronicity:
the firmament for - The random nature
the newest to shine.’ - of the universe.

This is the kind of - Diane has a sense
bullshit that Sheila - of shape in chaos,
has heard so often, - of a Goddess cloaked
she does not take heed. - in silvered onyx.

Until the offer - She walks a dark path,
of a support gig - as Kopek’s shadow
at Wembley becomes - is thrown into sharp
reality and - relief by a blaze
Jon is to be thanked. - of approaching light.

Y: YOD

He was born shortly after sunrise with
his ruling planet, the Moon, on the plane
of his Descendant. It formed a quincunx
with both the Sun and Mars, which in turn were
in sextile: A pointer on his birth chart.

She draws lines, for he does not mention kith
nor kin and she would dearly love to gain
a deeper insight. And though he debunks
such methods, his instinct is to defer
to her wisdom. She is mapping his heart.

He stands behind her in the crowd – arms crossed
around her neck, face pressed into her hair -
with ten thousand souls about to be lost.
As the show begins, he ceases to care.

Z: ZERO

With Wembley Stadium in flames behind
him, Kopek walks away into the night.

The detonator he used to ignite
a battery of incendiary bombs

is still clutched in one bloodstained hand. The Proms
never had a Last Night that could compete

with such an apocalypse. Just one sweet
slice from a serrated blade and Diane

fell as if hit by shrapnel. The dying
and the dead fell round her as Sheila burned

on stage. His solution to lovers spurned
was radical and final. He forgets

what started this spree. A change of targets
would be good. He has footballers in mind.