An Ode to .. Simeon Brown

Simeon’s Hole

The Profit Simeon walked upon

The Concrete Overpasses of the Holey Land.

“Cancel everything,” he told his followers.

“Including the ferries …?”

“Cancel.”

“Auckland light rail … ?”

“Cancel.”

“The Mt Victoria double tunnels of prophecy …?”

“Cancel.”

His followers wondered aloud at this zealous fervour.

But the Profit Simeon said:

“The Ways of the Lord are indeed mysterious.”

That evening, an Angel descended from

The Global Capital Markets and pitched

A Public Private Partnership Opportunity.

Simeon rose and put on his new workboots, shiny helmet,

And hi vis safety vest with price tag hanging off the back.

He went and preached to The People.

“I have a dream! Of a Mighty Tunnel

That spans Kings Landing.”

The Royal Consultants huddled together

And stuck a pin on a map.

“Start digging here, O Great One,”

Said the Royal Consultants,

Handing over an itemised invoice

For nine hundred thousand kopecks.

So Simeon started digging his hole.

He dug deeper and deeper into the earth.

He dug around disintegrating water pipes.

He dug around Shane Jones

Wallowing in a subterranean oil field.

Weeks passed and Simeon lost track of time,

But then he saw a faint glimmer up ahead.

Simeon knocked out a few last clods of earth

And emerged blinking into the daylight.

“This doesn’t look like Tinakori Road,”

The Profit Simeon wondered unto himself.

“Welcome to Korea,” said a voice.

And there waiting for Simeon was a formal delegation

To collect the nine trillion kopeck cancellation fee

For two ferries.

Victor Billot has previously felt moved to write Odes to the Green’s Elf Queen,  The Regent Seymour, King Luxon, and Lord Winston.