More Thoughts For Our Times

Fake Statesman

Look at me; can’t you see
My ignominy
That truly shapes your destiny?
O yes, I am such an overt winner
But in so many ways I am a sinner
I mark every day with cunning display
Of overt virtue that’s always astray
I pose as a saviour with misleading behaviour
Flooding people’s minds with deceitful gravure
I’ve no regard for the common man
His troublesome welfare’s not part of my plan
Instead my attention at fever pitch
Is solely designed to favour the rich
So I defund welfare and sack humanity
And cancel rich taxes with sheer inanity
I foster lies to promote my schemes
As my image is tainted by my evil dreams
This gives me power and I rule the land
With counterfeit glory and an iron hand
I construct a government that bows to my will
With obedient puppets ready for the kill
So justice is bent to match my needs
And I’m never punished for my sordid deeds
To pay tribute to myself with my lustful desire
I conspire with ire to build an empire
I crush refugees as if they were foes
And denigrate migrants compounding their woes
O how lucky you are to have your quorum
Secure in the hands of a victor ludorum*

*Latin for an overall champion. Literally “victor of the games.”

Homeless

Dear Sir, my teacher
I am so glad to be your pupil
You are kind to me and hear my story
So I thank you
With all my heart
I must tell you Sir,
That I have lived in my short life
In five countries including this one
Yet nowhere can I say I feel at home
My true home was Yemen, land of torment
I left it in a quest for peace
For a new homeland
With a longing for gentleness and harmony
All in vain
Here in your land as elsewhere
I am a stranger
Difference breeds animosity
And I feel it every day in my bones
My family has trouble speaking your language
Though I speak soundly and have learned it well
Immigration has an evil name to some
People seem O so aware of differences
In what we eat
In what we wear
In how we speak
And there is a subtle warning
In the term border protection
So many leaders decry foreigners in their policy
So here I am Sir
Still longing to belong
And yes, dreaming of a home I do not yet have

The Affluent Dangerous Idiot

On A Rightist Ruler

There he is, emerging from perdition
Changing a world to fit his ambition
But see the people defy him
Bravely in unison deny him
Thousand upon thousand marching in defiance
Proving they have for him no compliance
Read the banners reflecting their pain
Displaying resistance again and again
No more
They implore
Persistence is war
Justice is what laws were created for
Rebellion is in the air
And truth is a universal prayer
See how this scapegrace has risen
With behaviour fit for a prison
Winning support with fake pledges
With lies decorating the edges
Crushing all opposition
Such a deadly position
So there, now it’s true
There’s but one thing left for us to do
Rebel! Rebel! Rebel!
Send the mobster off to Hell
Stand! Stand! Stand! In the name of truth
Let far play provide the absolute proof
Have no one suffer below him
Let the media make sure we all know him
Make the power of integrity cast him aside
To harness the truth as a rising. glorious tide

University Assault

On a recent attack on universities

University: From universe: universus ‘combined into one, whole’, from uni- ‘one’ + versus ‘turned’ (past participle of vertere). Source: OED

How dare you seek to extinguish this sacred fire
That lights the learning all academics desire
Defunding courses because what they teach
Creates learned persons beyond your reach
Condemning students for speaking their minds
About evil deeds no punishment finds
Imposing your will as a ghastly priority
Based on the whims of your authority
Rave on then fool with your rightist rule
Your deeds condemn you as an overt ghoul
Just now we have finally heard enough
Of your deadly orders and irate bluff
You say you’re the source of truth and fairness
But you show no signs of righteous awareness
You menace, intimidate, bully and curse
And that is the reason you’re exposed in this verse
You demand obedience and approved teaching
But your condemnation is so overreaching
Your actions remind one of the Carlsbad Decrees
When Metternich made scholars fall to their knees
O the mind has mountains the studious climb
And the consequence of study is so often sublime
There is no place there for intrusive hands
So begone dull fool who never understands
Be silent not violent and earn an ovation
For the only way you can serve this nation
And let academe become a divinity
A unity beyond infinity

Solitary Wanderer

Ah! I am so lonely
My home is now a cauldron of death
And I have left it far behind me
Now I travel the world
Seeking refuge
Where kindness quells my loneliness
My fear
My alarum kindled by danger and hate
My quest for belonging takes such a long time
It seems like aeons
I wander and I wonder
When I will find freedom from hate and peril
Not here it seems
Unfriendly comments are everywhere
Looks askance
Tales of my false iniquity
Myths about my ominousness
So I linger furtively on this foreign shore
Longing for kindness
Praying for justice
Pleading for a chance to share all that I am
In a venue of hospitality
How I long to tell my story
Be an active part of a new community
A catalyst for love and true understanding
An agent for positive change
For enriched ethnicity
In the wonder and variety of another culture
So punish me not for being a stranger
Please. Please. Please.
And do not send me to El Salvador

royciebaby