209. The Biographer

He did not bother me much then

He just wanted me
to rearrange his past.

You know,
how memoirs ever so often
need a facelift

He showed me
his years with creases of crudity
which he wanted me to paint over
with ink

He led me down dark alleys
to his ugly stone secrets
which he wanted to do away with

You see,
I did not have much experience writing fiction
But I had significant experience
in starvation
which I did not need more of
So there,
I agreed

I never wanted to make history
I preferred writing history
for well, what is history
but the choice of the scribes
who anoint heroes to hide their flaws
and label villains to hand them claws?

So there I was,
publishing his black & white portrait
concealing more more than revealing

Writing the history
of my choice
to his liking

And he died a happy hero

Some read it
and rewarded me with sighs
of boredom and disbelief

…

Then I realised
there must be a reason why
good news and case studies
only find a weekly column
in most dailies

Then I also realised
there must be a reason why
gossip
fills scores of pages
in most dailies

…

And then
I rewrote history
a scandalous one

Whoever said
“do not pan the dead;
the dead are always virtuous”
(but of course,
one needs to be alive
to cultivate vices)

I brought out his ugly stone secrets
ah, what a museum?!

They do not talk ill of the dead
in public
but then,
they take more delight
in seeing heroes fall
than in seeing them anointed

And you see,
I did not have much experience writing trash
but I had significant experience
in starvation
which I did not need more of

So there I was,
publishing his portrait
in color this time
exposing the sinner
who left, unpunished

I went easy
on the blue;
(red is in vogue
every other season
& definitely more scandalous)

Many read it
and rewarded me with whispers
of interest and disapproval
& then many more read it

He does not bother me much now
particularly since the time he died

He was a good man, I guess!

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"I wonder how different would our lives be if we were to find out that our history is half farce & our heroes much more so." - The shelves