A Voice Continues

Meaning

Aha!
That cheat is at it again
Bombarding my ears with vagaries
Wandering around my brain with dubious intent
Posing as a truth teller
For his own sinister purposes
That raises the problem
So many poor fools
Gullibly see his vague emotive generalisations
As reality
Look at this example:
Keep our country safe
What is the real message?
Why,
It’s we need control
It’s we need soldiers
It’s we need enemies to kindle lucrative fear
It’s we need the most gainful industry on Earth:
Weapons of war
And take the so-called defence industry
That supplies military equipment
To our armed forces and export clients
Do we know what those buyers do with it?
Do we care?
So now,
A final word:
You can take what I write and
Check the spelling
Check the grammar
Check the punctuation
But above all things check the meaning

Virtue Signalling

Ah yes
You sound so virtuous
With your detailed account
Of all you have done for the nation
It reads like a Hans Anderson fairy tale
Accompanied by your details of what you despise
Ay, there’s the rub*
That’s your strategy
You cast aspersions on your political rivals
Invent vices for them
Spread dislike with venomous name calling clichés
Marxists
Collectivists
Radical socialists
Brainless nincompoops
A collection of absolute idiots
That’s it then
That’s how you win
Rise up in the world
How else can you rise?
It doesn’t matter
Who care’s about logic, truth or integrity?
All you need are gullible voters
Uneducated non-thinkers
Fools who rush in where angels fear to tread**
And intelligent people would cry foul
So ramble on bold cur
And let’s see what happens to the presidency

*From Shakespeare’s Hamlet.

**Words of Alexander Pope (1688-1744).

Hate

Hate
It is a powerful weapon
In the political world
Look at him
That frightening example
Ranting like a tiger
Trapped in the corner of a cage
Hatred oozes from his tongue
Like pus from an infected war wound
Decrying with fake integrity
His innocent rivals
Overwhelmed by the lies his votaries believe
Note the language he aims at his foes
Blame
Allegation
Fake attribution
Expletive inculpation
It’s all a dirge for morality
So
Sound the dire alarums now
Beware of the peril for all that is fair and just
Danger looms
Menace threatens
Jeopardy sounds a warning
A man such as this
Must never be listened to
Must never have power
Must never be the leader
Now is the time for change
So
Ring the bells forth into heaven above
And dexterously turn all hate into love

Death For Everyman

With respect for The Somonyng of Everyman
A fifteenth century morality play

What do the pundits tell us about death?
Its danger?
Its cost?
Its inevitability?
Ah yes, that’s it
Whether you are prince or pauper
You’re bound to die
Now that’s settled
So when that day comes for you
Where do you stand?
How will you be remembered?
By your social intercourse?
Maybe
By your beauty?
Not in my case
By your strength?
Not in my case
By your discretion?
Possibly
By your five senses?
Rarely
By your kindred?
It all depends
By your worldly goods?
Not in my case
By your good deeds?
Yes
That’s it!
If you make the world more liveable
Your follies will be forgivable

Something To Say

Some people have nothing to say
And take a long time saying it
Some people tell the truth
And their services are no longer required
Some people lie profusely
And are elected President
Some people ask the right questions
And become profoundly educated
So when it’s your turn where do you stand?
What shape will your words take?
What meaning will you present?
What audience will you seek to influence?
Why, you’ll seek the best words in the best order*
You will carefully tell the truth
And you will look for thinking reeds
In the swamp of unawareness
Now this is not to say that the task is easy
Not to claim the truth is readily obvious
Not to deny the existence of preconceived bigotry
All this is part of the challenge
Part of the encounter
Part of the struggle
Part of the wrestling match
Part of the breach of the peace
Part of the crusade
Part of the seemingly endless quest for reason
When you write a poem

*With thanks to Samuel Taylor Coleridge

royciebaby