The Fall Guy

I, Guido Fawkes.

That man, Robert Cecil,
is a devious devil.
He played with us
like a cat with a mouse;
he made us believe
that we would succeed
in our daring deed
of blowing up the House
with gunpowder stowed.
in the cellar below.

But  now we know
that he knew all along
of our daring plot.
He seemed to be au fait
with rather a lot
of our secret scheme,
and that we were keen
to reduce Parliament
to smithereens
to get rid of King James.

We’d crossed the Thames
with thirty-six barrels
but our valiant attempt
in the end was no use.
I was on the point
of lighting the fuse
when the soldiers came.
I was caught red-handed
with explosives that were
about to combust.

We had been exposed
by a so-called friend
who did us no favour.
by betraying  our trust
and that was the end
of our endeavour.
So vanished our hopes
of achieving fame
but I’m sure that people
will remember my name.

© Luigi Pagano