Skip to main content
Cartoonist
by Dave Medd

Draw me a laughing Word I can chuckle at.
Draw me a joke with halo and wings
I can cackle at. In your great witness,
draw me a holy guffaw from your boots
or the bile of my belly.

Draw me the rape of reverence. Draw me
a man with a beard, a cross and an ark
full of rainbows. Draw me pillars of good
intentions, columns of justice. Draw me
his engines of comic dominion.

Draw me a child whose head your pen
can explode like a diagram.
Draw me a Laugh
I can strap to my wheels like a butterfly.
Draw me a heretic smile whose punchline
squibs flame like Roman Candles.

Take out shares in the People's Press
Support the Morning Star
You have reached the free limit.
Subscribe to continue reading.
More from this author
CONFRONTING HOMOPHOBIA: (L) FCB Cadell, The Boxer, c.1924; (
Exhibition review / 21 March 2025
21 March 2025
While the group known as the Colourists certainly reinvigorated Scottish painting, a new show is a welcome chance to reassess them, writes ANGUS REID
BLOOD ON THE TRACKS: Xilun Sun as the mysterious interloper
Film of the Week: / 20 March 2025
20 March 2025
ANGUS REID recommends an exquisite drama about the disturbing impact of the one child policy in contemporary China
Short Story / 7 February 2025
7 February 2025
The phrase “cruel to be kind” comes from Hamlet, but Shakespeare’s Prince didn’t go in for kidnap, explosive punches, and cigarette deprivation. Tam is different.
Frantz Fanon at a press conference during a writers' confere
BenchMarx / 28 January 2025
28 January 2025
ANGUS REID deconstructs a popular contemporary novel aimed at a ‘queer’ young adult readership
Similar stories
21st Century Poetry / 8 April 2025
8 April 2025
by Adaora Raji
21st Century poetry / 15 January 2025
15 January 2025
by Alistair Findlay
Season's Greetings, a mural by graffiti artist Banksy, stenc
21st Century Poetry: / 3 December 2024
3 December 2024
by Charlie Grace
21st Century Poetry / 17 June 2024
17 June 2024
by Jemima Foxtrot