One-Way Pavilion
Johnny Carson steps through the gate and enters a Concourse with 72 tracks upstairs and downstairs but trains going just back and forth. The illusion of movement. The exchange of energy and goods to create friction and power.
Sisyphus at high speed, he thinks. But the microphone is on and so he says:
I am told that this is the One Way Pavilion. It was an interesting journey getting here.
I hardly remember getting here, in fact…
Must be the turnstile. Throws me off.
he sign says this is the One Way Pavilion. Concourse ZA.
It sizzles with activity but is cool and air-conditioned so only the hairs on your skin feel the power.
All the activity is behind plexiglass.
Flashing lights prevent any view of the inside.
Ahead is a corridor. “Liberty and Justice for All.”
“As good a place as any,” Johnny Carson says to the unknown audience.
Darth Vaders are lined up on both sides. Elbow to elbow. Facing one another.
Johnny Carson can only walk through the path that they have left.
“Ah, there. I see it now. There’s apparently a security check ahead,” he says.
Then the Darth Vaders on one side march and sing:
Mine eyes have seen the checklist for the One Approved Belief,
Where the curriculum is holy and dissent is labeled grief.
We march in perfect silence, for our questions bring us shame—
His lies are marching on….
Across from him, on the other side, the Darth Vader ’s dressed in suits with red ties and wearing red hats with black robes sway and sing with Dean Martin:
Going, going, one direction!
Going, going, no correction!
Going, going, no reflection!
His lies are marching on…
And Joe McCarthy says from the grave:
Remember, boys and girls:
The one way is the only way.
And, while the Darth Vader on one side marches, the robed and throned on the other side sway:
We were overcome,
We were overcome,
We were overcome,
And, now,
we are only one:
Oh, deep in our hearts,
We know it has begun —
this crushing into one.
One way!
“I appear to be on a stage,” says Carson into his mic.
And the Headless Horseman sings:
I have read the sacred memos from the Ministry of Thought,
Where the facts are pre-selected and the nuance overwrought.
We pledge allegiance daily to the sanctioned point of view—
My thugs are marching on.
And his lackeys in the senate, house, and judiciary sing:
We shall speak as one,
We shall speak as one,
We shall speak as only one —
One way!
And…
With our pockets deep
Controlling what you see
You will learn to speak
Just like me —
Then they all gather together and begin to march toward Johnny Carson who runs away.