83. Has-been

You were a player, plausible and proud.
The figurehead of Brexit, king of schools
when Cummings was your snarling protégé.
Look at him now. He’s trampled through the rules
but he’s in charge. He won’t let Number Ten
say anything. Dom wants things done his way.
You fall in line, and back him, yet again:
“To be a loving father’s not a crime.”
His story’s about him. It’s me, me, me.
“Boris was ill, had too much on his plate.”
Consult his patron? Talk to Gove, maybe?
Nobody seems to even contemplate
that prospect. You are running out of time,
an extra, on the fringes of the crowd.