Featherless Biped (with apologies to Emily Dickinson)

"Hope is the thing with feathers."
That's what Emily Dickinson said.
But what, I ask, is this featherless thing
that is clinging to my head?

It clutches me in terror,

fearing it will fall,

for its wings are bare and useless.
It cannot fly at all.

Maybe this once was hope,

but its feathers have been plucked.

Now it knows as I do,

we are well and truly fucked. - Jeff Barnes

For a more positive outlook, read Emily Dickinson's original poem