Not If but When …
When you have lost your head, and those about you
Are casualties of violence brought by you
When you betray a trust, so others doubt you
And lie to those who need the truth in view
When you wait to ambush the defenceless,
And make allegiance with dictators’ coups
And fail to understand why others hate you
Whilst hating them, for what they seem to you
When you dream of total world Dominion,
And fantasise with War in outer space;
When your is Freedom a shattered Constitution,
And your Justice is a shawl of rotten lace;
When you paganise and crucify the stature
Of Science, with Intelligent Design,
And yearn to break all life, to bring on Rapture;
Then tell us all this doctrine is benign
When a blackened heap of bodies is your winning
And your risk is just a spreadsheet of your costs
When ‘Aid’ is holding ransom the defeated
Whilst ruling them, and calling them your hosts
When you can force your poor and Black and stupid
To serve the whims of your dynastic line
And so grip Power with no moral duty
Except to say – ‘Your will is wholly Mine’
When you can tell the crowd of your great virtue
But talk with spin, and feign a common touch
When spying on your friends is part of nature
And helping them is kicking out their crutch
When you filibuster the last desperate minute
With sixty seconds worth of opaque scum
Yours is the Earth, and all that’s in it
We regret you are Americans – with guns
Sam Nodes
Well said, Sam Nodes.
When I read such poems, written by people with a clue, I’m happy that there is somebody like you !
Many thanks for the truth put so wonderful in verses !
well, Sam had a good template, but I didn’t think the last line lived up to the rest of the poem…it wasn’t what I would have envisaged the last lines to be.
But its still a good effort.
I knew that something could be made of Kipling’s poem.
You have both commented on it, deconstructed it, redeemed it and made one believe that political poetry is possible.
This passed the T. S. Eliot test of poetry: it made the hairs on the back of my neck tingle.
Franz
You can take a look sometimes in the Café and make your opinion. This is an invitation, don’t have hesitation., just come in, drink a coffee or a beer, nothing there to have fear.
Brilliant! Should be in all social media!
Suzanne … for obvious reasons … I do not ever use social media … way too dangerous … but put my piece out there if you can … on my behalf … others need to appreciate the depredations of a deranged Nation …