VentriloquistVentriloquist means stomach speaker. It’s Latin.
If you believe in him, by God, you’re gullible ─
as if the stomach were a place to chat in
or speech could come from swallowing a syllable.
I can’t believe that in an age like ours
when everybody’s mouth is open, but ─ but ─
when nothing is said, anyone’s got the power
of saying anything with his mouth shut.
His stomach talk! What is he trying to tell me?
Only a poor beggar who hasn’t once
eaten today hears “glub glub” in his belly.
Matter of fact, especially when the month’s
almost out, my guts grumble and grate
Know whose voice it is? The voice of the State!
1919
(Translated by John Du Val)