Royce Levi Australian Teacher and Author

The Fascist

There he is
A perfect example from the political lexicon
A fascist
Just look at him
Meets the specified standards beautifully
A racist
Says immigrants will poison our blood
Despises democracy
Falsifies bona fide election results
A rabble-rouser
Appeals to the desires and prejudices of the mob
And, above all, adores a strong leader
Himself
Yes
That’s it
The evidence is so strong
Storms into your awareness
Like inoperable cancer of the brain
What’s next?
Well,
As so often has happened in history
The mobster has gained temporary power
Protected by a supportive judiciary
With power hungry political disciples
Exploiting his ill-gotten success
In their own sordid, degenerate interest
What then can we simple souls do?
Ah, just be patient my friends
Let time be your soul mate
Have faith in the ultimate dominance of morality
For that is why as humans we still exist

The Warmonger

Look at that ruthless man
He’s an agent of murder
A supplier of weapons
In an unfair war
To a grateful madly hawkish ally
Breathes there a man with soul so dead
Who never to himself has said
These are humans I am killing?
What a death toll it is as a consequence!
Children
The aged
Whole families
Thousands
And thousands
Still more thousands
Civilian deaths make it a war crime
Yet the deliberate infernal sacrilege rages on
Hey there
It’s you I mean
You sign the papers
Give your permission to kill
Your military industrial complex
Donates the ghastly tools of death
Soon you will leave your position of power
In a twinkling be a mere memory
But your deeds will never be forgotten
In the mornings
And at the going down of countless suns
Your infamy will be recalled
And the laments of so many
Will be sung to the music you have composed

The Robber Baron

So
You are rich beyond compare
Colluding with a leader
Because your ambitions currently coincide
Overtly powerful therefore
With a voice demanding attention
For the present
But do you think you can rule over me for ever?
No way
For you are the stuff that intrigue is made of
Your ways of doing things
Plot
Collusion
Conspiracy
Have no place in my life
You are now an in-person
Tainted, befouled by power
Dominant for a time while convenience lasts
But you will fade away eventually
Like a bad aroma when the wind blows
So speak on if you must
Talk away
As a garrulous parrot
Spruiking judgements made of fairy floss
That I have no need for
I am not listening
For I have more important things to do
Than heed your gabble
Get thee hence soon
Go back to your subservient social medium
Where you are king
And O joy thankfully, I am not your subject

The Crafty Beguiler

Listen to him
Oozing out guarantees like Dolos*
Using people’s misery
To build his own castle of deceit
Promising to end suffering
With dreams he cannot consummate
It all sounds so good
Utopia is just a vote away
A new day is dawning
Paradise in a new morning
If you believe and elect him
But you must analyse the artfulness
The subterfuge
The slyness
The guile
Cost of living
Is a consequence of many years of rule
Not a single regime
So blame the system not your political foe
But beware
Promissory notes are dangerous
Maybe life can be made cheaper for a time
But what of the unmentioned consequences?
Will the poor lose support?
Will the sick agonise?
Will the schools suffer?
Will we be prone to unending waste?
Yes
Peruse the dream but check the evidence

*Dolos was the Greek god of trickery, cunning deception, craftiness, guile, and treachery.

The Yes-man

Look at you
Kowtowing to that successful figurehead
In your own quest for power
That leader in name only
Is intense
Violent
Ardent
Fierce
And for the present, successful
To follow him is to have strength
Temporary potency
Contemporary political success
But tomorrow your success
Will hang like chains around your neck
So begone fool
Get thee to an institute of learning
Discover virtue
Honour
Integrity
Fair play
Uprightness
And make your world a proper place
Go soon
Before your infamy turns into chaos
Before your collusion
Has you branded an accomplice
In the relentless, unflinching pages of history
Turn now
Away from your misdeeds
Dare to be linked to truth and integrity
Or else be but a sycophant in sheep’s clothing

royciebaby

Septic Sceptic

Lord what fools these politicians be
Just look at him
Ignoring the devastation
The debacle
The catastrophe
Of climate change
Listen to him
Arguing about cost of electricity
What is the cost of fire?
Of flood?
Of famine?
Of unleashed tempests?
What a fool he is!
Notice his mindless deeds
Repealing wise laws about climate
Tax concession for oil
Permission
Indeed encouragement
To mine coal
So that’s it then
The industrial complex rules
Tells us what’s right and wrong
Decides the fate of species
Determines our destiny
Links our lives to the financial statements
Of the rich
So
Here I stand*
I am poor and weak but my vote will be wise

* A statement by Martin Luther at the Diet of Worms (1521) defying his opponents. Also the title of a book by Paul Robeson the famous singer and activist.

On The Mythology Of Tax

That’s right
No taxes is the political cry
Small government
Sell off the family jewels
To your lobbyists
So they alone can get rich
Privatise everything
So the minority can rule
What fools believe this!
Government owned enterprises
Belong to you and me
To us all
If they break the laws of decency
We can change them
Vote against them powerfully
Depending on the crime
It is not so now
We have fostered the creation of elite moguls
Monsters in minority who decide the price of things
According to their wishes
It is very few ruling over many
This must not be!
Fair taxation shared by everyone is a good thing
Then the deeds of the nation
Will be in the hands of all at the ballot box
Not of the malingering few
As we have it today
Therefore
Cast aside the mythology of tax
Big, strong government is controlled by the people
And doable fair taxes create necessary power
This is a need right now
So end the fable
Get thee hence you greedy few who now rule
A new era of democracy awaits us

Money Matters

What a fool he is
That political leader
Look what he has done
Funded rich private schools with my money
While state public schools crumble
And wither in poverty
Ah yes
Money matters
Children’s lives depend on a just apportionment
So much pivots on this
And a government’s prime responsibility
With finance
Is fairness
So how dare he accede to interest groups
In such a slanted way
Education is so important
So linked to a desirable future
Too momentous to be controlled by lobbyists
So what is the lesson here?
Public classrooms are our future
If you decide to leave them
Then you should meet the cost
State teachers hold our destiny in their hands
They need support
Good learning environments
Not hotchpotch rivalry from elite institutions
Dedicated to moneyed minorities
So let it be
Bring on monetary justness for the majority
And note the changes in the statesmen elected

Consort Of Illusion

“Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority.” Lord Acton

Just look at that triumphant political figure
Elected
Thrust into power
By babbling non sequiturs
Posing as a friend of the needy
When he is just an ally of the greedy
See how he twists reality
Lies and fake superlatives
Are his modus operandi
To promote his status
And bring his aims to fruition
What are these objectives?
Why money
More money
And still more money
For his own disgraceful self
So it’s absolute power now
And will it be corrupt absolutely?
No
Nay
Never
Be of good cheer little people
From this man trouble will ensue
Yes, days may be wrought by pain for the many
When this ogre has his way
Good institutions may crumble
The indigent may suffer
But as always, time will provide the cure
Because justice, a mighty force, eventually wins

Forgiveness And Rage

Listen to him
That local card-carrying member is so angry
Rage is his motif
Anger is his way of winning support
It is straight out of the fascist handbook
Hitler was so irate
So furious
Arraigning Jews and others with spite
Mussolini too
Stalin
And others in the modern world
I need not name
So
How sad it is
Politicians know they can win support
By harnessing people’s anger
Exploiting divisive trends in society
Posing as a friend against useful foes
Asylum seekers alas
Tend to be convenient victims
Of clandestine animosity
They are easy targets
For gurus of hate
There is such a need today for compassion
For understanding of the suffering of these others
For gentleness
For attachment
Towards those who need it so much
Rise up then citizens
Turn this politician into a statesman
Who will flood our land with humane kindness

royciebaby

Three Jeers For The Winner

Three jeers for the winner
Who is a clear sinner
And perpetrates madness
Disguised as gladness
He lies through his teeth
Far more than a thief
To send an election
In a ghastly direction
Whenever he speaks he abuses his foes
What his ambition is nobody knows
He builds for himself an obsequious tower
Where mindless followers give him power
When he loses he chooses to stage a revolution
As his ugly way to find a solution
He stirs the mob with fake allusions
To rank injustice with his chosen solutions
He is old and battered with all thoughts scattered
Promoting deception as if it mattered
The law to him is a servile tool
That dutifully bends or breaks the rule
His words are designed to be subliminal
But they cannot deny he is a criminal
Heed him and a wondrous day you’ll get
But that’s a faked transferred epithet
When he wins the world is a dark malaise
That haunts our planet throughout our days
So it’s three jeers for the winner who taints our lives
In the faint last hope that justice survives
Not so, his follies have made him the master
But history will rank him as a disaster
May these words bless you and keep you sane
For the deeds of this winner are clearly inane

Dark Memories

Look around you
At echoes of the past
Do you recall the fascist liberator
Hitler by name?
The saviour
His catch-cry
To make Germany great again
Hater of immigrants
Especially Jews
Restorer of the economy
Provider of The People’s Car
Mouthpiece
Resisting enemies everywhere
How the nation loved him!
And he pretended to love the citizens
More than himself
Strange isn’t it?
How history comes and goes
And echoes?
Yes, we who live now
Must learn to learn
See the evidence of yesterday
As so much significance
Has happened before today
Go then friend
Into the past where lessons exist
Events so influential now
Recall
That fake champion
Of the past who was not a Guy Fawkes
But remember to remember the 5th of November

His Accomplice

Look at him
Note him well
He’s an egotist
A racist
A criminal
A fascist
Uses lies to give him power
Treats non sequiturs as absolute truth
Makes each mass gathering a witching hour
Invents superlatives to give him status
Twists reality in a quest for power
Bends the law to fulfil his plans
Sacks his staff when they learn his truth
Teaches his followers what to think
To crush dissent he wields an axe
Has a troubled mind that cannot relax
Courts allies for his evil deeds
When he wins all justice recedes
So
Heed me now
If you follow those footsteps
Ignore his crimes
Abhor his opponents
Accept his ways
Play as he plays
Shame on you
For alas my friend
I am sad to say
You are in the end
His accomplice

Last Words Of A Drifter

Well here I am
All alone
Nobody needs me much any more
Of not much use to anyone
Once I was in demand
Even to do dirty jobs for a little cash
Travelled around a bit
Slept in parks
Kept on living in spite of my fate
Now it’s over
The journey we all make
About to be ended by old age
Can’t walk well any more
Got an aching back
Can’t lift heavy loads
Homeless still
Can’t see properly as I broke my glasses
Left school early you know
Never had much learnin’
But that’s only for pretenders anyway
Snobs
Who look down on you like a piece of litter
Not me though; I’m no fool
Despite my poverty I’ve been around
Learnt a few tricks
Watched how the big boys do it
Ah yes I’m a with it guy still
Who can change the world
Before he goes…yes
With one celebrated achievement
I’ve voted a fascist into power

Sophistry Exposed

Just listen to you
Pounding my ears with violence
Distortion
Anger
Hate
You tell the truth only by accident
Building a framework of deception
To achieve your own ends
So you thought your plans would work
Your chasm of deception
Would master me
No way
For I am a thinking reed in your hostile universe
I see you for what you are
A lump of wasteful offal in a civic sewage dump
So prattle on, demon
Speak to the wind
I have better things to do
Than listen to you
I see through your grandiloquence
Your counterfeit rhetoric
Your sham virtue
Your humbug
I detect your quest for power
Your ugly narcissism
Your self interest
Your greed
Whenever I listen to you
Whenever I see what you do
So listen to me now
I have never ever ever voted for you

royciebaby

Rehab Song

For the Westmead Rehabilitation Hospital

Well
Here I am
In
A gymnasium for the shattered
Look at us
How debilitated we are
So many in pain
Bodies in repair mode
Faces old
So often torn with agony and distress
But wait; look again
Notice the angels
Hovering from one sufferer
To another, then another, then another
Spreading hope
Little conquests of movement
Graced by a smile or two
With words of encouragement
So
Heed me O wise observer
Notice the magic of this place
Find an angel
Share words
Gather understanding
And
Discover the power
The gentle awareness
Of
A physiotherapist

Nurse

For Ryde Hospital and
The Westmead Rehabilitation Hospital

Here I am
Trouble has.descended upon me
I am like a broken twig
Falling
Falling
Falling
From an old, gnarled and withered tree
Suddenly there you are
Noticing me
In such a gentle way
Checking the mechanism
That struggles bravely to keep me alive
Thank you for your gentleness
Thank you for noticing my uncertainty
Thank you for explaining gently what you do
You understand
You have learned what struggle is
For sufferers like me
You check my name
My date of brth
And all is well so you begin your work
With kindness that lasts
You think I will be leaving soon
Feel we are parting
Not so
For your caring smile will be always with me
An endless icon
Of the power and beauty of your profession

Shower Nurse

For the Westmead Rehabilitation Hospital

How kind you are!
How lucky I am
To have you care for me
For I am so decrepit
A warrior wounded by age
Torn apart by time
Unable to bathe myself
Suddenly saved by your gentle skill
By your careful kindness
By your hands so aware of my troubled state
You have eased my pain with warm water
Soap
And perfect skill
So that when dry
I breathe again in the comfort of normality
My life goes on
When you take your leave
Your work finished
We seem to part
Not so
For the memory of your kindness
Lingers
In the mind of a grateful ancient
Who knows passing peace and joy
Despite his antiquity
Because of you

President For Sale

Hey there!
President for sale!
Roll up, roll up and bring your money
Hurry along
Hit the gong
Sing the song
Learn to belong
Buy! Buy! Buy!
Bibles
Silver coins
Digital reading cards
Gold high-top sneakers
Diamond-encrusted watches
All labelled with the name of the god
Can you see the vampire smiling
Beguiling you to spend without end?
Are you one of the foolish flock
Coerced by cunning to spend?
Glory! Glory! Glory!
Heed the conman’s story
Money is a tool of kindness
A way to conquer the blindness
Of political opponents
So cash in now on this timely divestment
And change the world with your brilliant investment
Avast there you money movers
Hurry now
Change the world with a monetary deed
Come on down
Embrace Judas in the Garden of Greed

War à la Mode

Look at them
Worshiping death
Amidst a culture of mass murder
Justifying slaughter
Like an abattoir at a meat works
But the meat is human
And the gun is fired by retribution
So the Angel of Death
Is crucified on a cross of hate
See the children dying
All in the name of redress
See their parents crying
But the killers don’t confess
Justice falls from the heavens
In the guise of a bomb
A guilt that no deed leavens
Despite the guilty’s aplomb
Can you hear the crying
As many thousands die?
Notice the culprit denying
Vehemently with a lie?
Is genocide a fashion
Sans any overt expression?
Or is the offence
Just a case of political repression?
Are we watching every day
Crimes against humanity?
Or should we believe
Excuses made with such sheer inanity?
The answers my friend are blowing in the wind
Ethnic cleansing is a crime no lawyer can rescind

Democracy And The USA

Democracy is coming to the U.S.A.: Leonard Cohen

Hang in there
All you common people
You dreamers of virtue
Who long for freedom
Who seek the truth amidst a mire of deception
You who are potential victims
Of schemers
For whom democracy is a gimmick
A ploy
A stunt
A dodge
A stratagem
For a chosen few
Get rich curs who deceive
With guileful tricky fairy stories
Condemn those creatures of dark impurity
To a penal institution of constant obscurity
Arise with wisdom
You friends of reality
Face the evil with a discerning mind
Detect the lies
Ignore the cries
Of fake alarm
Designed to lead you astray
Come on now
The power is yours
An infinite panacea for fake audacity
Embrace with tenacity the power of veracity
Doom that arch liar to eternal failure
Let love and understanding emboss your regalia

royciebaby

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

Alternative Reality

“In a time of deceit telling the truth is a revolutionary act.” George Orwell

It’s time for change

Just listen to him
He seems to live in a parallel universe
Lies to the right of him
Lies to the left of him
Misinformation in between
What an intrepid schemer he is
Deception flows from his tongue
Like ooze from an active Vesuvius
Condemning his opponents as villains
Lying about everything relevant to his goals
Praising himself like Narcissus loudly reincarnated
That’s it then
“The time has come,” the Walrus said*
To give respect to the slang word kibosh
To end the charade
To let justice have its say
To recognise and expose deception
To kill the demons that savagely distort truth
That’s it then
Be it known
Forever and a day
Or longer if the spirit moves you
Let the orators proclaim across the world
This man will never ever ever ever ever get my vote
Quod erat demonstrandum

*From Alice In Wonderland by Lewis Carroll satirising the abuse of power and greed. “The time has come,” the Walrus said, “To talk of many things: Of shoes—and ships—and sealing-wax— Of cabbages—and kings— And why the sea is boiling hot— And whether pigs have wings.”

Dancing Shoes

There are my old dancing shoes
Look at them
Quite dishevelled aren’t they?
Lying there now unused
The soles almost worn through
A tattered relic of my past
What memories they conjure forth!
Ah yes
The quick-step
How excited we were, she and I
Laughter and fun in her eyes as we spun
Round and round and round
Like liberated children
Easily keeping up with the whirlwind music
Then a stronger memory
Ah yes
The jazz waltz
How close we were
Slowly sliding amidst the harmony
Love in her eyes
As I heard the angels sing
With the lights turned low appropriately
Ah yes
What a treasure recollection is
She is long dead now
And I am blundering on in my infirmity
Walking stick dependent
In danger of falling with every step I take
But the mind has mountains
And I’m standing atop one now
Because of those shoes I am not alone

It’s Called A Game

Just look at them
Hurtling themselves
Devastatingly towards each other
Crushingly
So unflinchingly
And so destructively
Beware of empathy
Or you’ll feel the pain when they pound
Clash against each other
You must be brave
Ignore the agony
Get up and run back to your place
Be ready for the next onslaught
Mann the guns
For whoever runs towards you
What is that oval object they are carrying?
Is it a bomb?
Or a precious thing
More valued than life itself?
And look at those people cheering
The gladiatorial crowd
The mob
The horde
The Coliseum flock
You must please them
Crush the enemy
Or adroitly escape his clutches
And cross the Siegfried Line**
That all warriors lust to pass
As the bystanders pay their fees to gape

**The Siegfried Line was a German “last wall” line in World War II.

Follies Listed

The military industrial complex
Is a thriving entity
Funded by the deaths of countless souls
Google Wiki’s
List of destroyed heritage
And your sad mind
Will be sickened
By the loss of so much of our past
Climate is still our danger
Heated by the greed
Of moneyed entrepreneurs
Education
Remains burdened
By unnecessarily excessive costs
Alcohol and tobacco
Continue to be
Part of flourishing fatal enterprises
Needed medicine
Stays
Out of reach for countless patients
Poverty persists
For an appalling number
Of our suffering fellow humans
Lawyers are still employed
Concerning a host of criminal acts
So get you gone
You political deceiver
You structured dreamer
You architect of your own fortunes
With your clinical, self-satisfied smile
Don’t you dare tell me
This is a golden age

royciebaby

Unspoken

On an unholy war

You hear those cries
As children die
Amidst the folly of a blood-soaked war
And say nothing
You heed the anguish
Of those distressed mortals
Whose venerable dwellings
Have just been turned into debris and dust
And say nothing
You perceive the wailing
Of those war-torn souls
Close to death without food and water
And say nothing
You notice
The anguish of those people
Now utterly without a native land to call their own
And say nothing
You listen duteously
To the fascistic war cries
In your own belligerent country
And say nothing
Now the fascists
Strike blows against all people and things you love
Bringing you disaster and death
You still say nothing
As you are alone
Amidst the chaos of your infinite self interest

Black Tribute

You are so kind
Gently tending to my aching body
Feeling my pulse
Reading my data
On the blood pressure machine
Scanning
My eyes and ears for disarray
Cautiously seeking
The sources and extent of my pain
Softly speaking to me
Hearing my faltering words
With understanding
And not a trace of condemnation
Despite the vastness of my age
The distortion of my battered body
The unyielding uncertainty of my human existence
How merciful you are
Tender, compassionate, benign
A doctor true to her noble profession
I thank you with all my heart
No
Your hands are not cold as you suggest
They are considerate, understanding, humane
And black as the darkest night
How lucky I am
That our psyche has no colour
Neither black nor white

Evil Is As Evil Does

Ah yes
I hear your tirade against your political foes
Lies aplenty
Fake superlatives
Decrying the humanity and virtue of your rivals
Oh
How your followers
Swallow your tainted food
A repast for the brain dead mob of acolytes
Who wave banners
And proclaim collusion
For every ugly, sordid lie you utter
Look at you
Orchestrating the responses of your bewildered herd
Clapping your hands
In time with your orchestrated deceit
Moving your aged bulky body
To a rhythm of craftiness and guileful duplicity
In your fraudulent devil dance
That’s it then
Full speed ahead we must go
Along the road to deadly political ruination
A fake salvation for the nation
Amidst your crafty solicitous ovation
No no no
That president would be a god of the underworld
A Hades* of sorrow
A doom that must not loom tomorrow

*Hades, in ancient Greek religion was a god of the underworld

An Absolute Solution

I wonder why
Although
Misfortune dogs my daily life
Casts shadows although there is no sun
Chills my heart although there is no frost
Blows me away although there is no wind
I still find order in the disarray
Comfort in the cold
Shelter in the icy blast
Tranquility in the tempests of worldly anger
I ask myself
Why
When the world is rife with struggle
Torn apart by competitive outrage
Riven by political intrigue
Rent by racial prejudice
My mind still knows a restfulness
Kindness in another’s inconvenience
Alliance with my rivals
Understanding of activist causes
Compassion for alien strangers
Suddenly
I find the answer
A solution to this my gentle problem
A reason for my tranquility
My repose
My peace of mind
For amidst the bathos of existence
I have found someone who loves me

Olympic Victory

We lost
Vanished is our dream
All that training gone to waste
The glory that we sought
Lies smothered in the litter of failure
Our deeds
Now have but brief mention by the newsreader
Our sponsors
Now will seek greener pastures
Out coach
Now will suddenly find himself redundant
Our fans
Now will suddenly examine their loyalty
And what of us, the players?
What now is our destiny?
Aha!
A worthy question
Where do we the losers stand?
Note well this answer
We the vulnerable
In the face of a challenge
Have hoped to win but dared to lose
We the players
Are so different from sport’s other add-ons
When we win, we triumph
But even though we lose
We have been there in the arena daring greatly
Boldly in that place
Where timid souls never venture
So in defeat
That is in itself a victory

royciebaby