Thus I Wrote

Maintain…
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Maintain…

There appears to be
No clear right or wrong
There is weak
& there is strong

There appears to be
No agreed perspective
Only effective
And ineffective

Some use the law
Or some wise insight
Some have to break things
To relearn it’s not right

And so boundaries
Are pushed on until
Another pushes back
With strength and will

And so lessons are learned
An agreed perspective
Over what is effective
And ineffective

How did you justify
Stealing and killing
From those who own
But are unwilling?

You used religion
And science to say
They are below you
In made up ways

And now you use arrogance
And discrimination
To control equals or betters
Even in the same nation

Jokes are used
Hurtfully…
To hide behind
Insidiously…

And statues are used
To glorify the pillage
They poison the nation
& weaken it with spillage

The spawn of public schools
Like Eton & Harrow
Brutal and shameless
Monsters of sorrow

But inherited wealth
Can’t be repeated
Change must come, cos
The future can’t be cheated

The past can hold back
Or help evolve to find
New ways that include
New ties that bind

Like you I serve
My selfish needs
But our different values
Sow different seeds

Is climate change
Valued by you?
Or is it too long term
Too indirect for you?

Is a short term fix
More what you choose?
A zero sum game
You win…we lose

Different values
Could serve for good
But the future looks darker
Maybe more than it should

Now I’m grateful when
On the road I find
Those who are giving
Those who are kind

They have no shame
Because they are taught to be so
Fair play is for the many
A controlling show

They have no boundaries
No rules they follow
Under their act
Inside they are hollow.

Norms and convention
Are no shackles for them
Decency and humanity
They abuse again

Holding power is all
Using any culture war
They keep friends near
And others far

They hide in plain sight
They are a rich elite
They blame others
To distract from this deceit

I’m on an island
Disconnected
But I see us evolve
Through chaos & time

To changing perceptions
Of new truths
Of new values
Of a new effective

We compete
Upon foundations
Of our culture
Hidden & taken for granted

I fear a crack
In the foundations
Of our culture
Hidden & taken for granted

Now and then
I slow down…
I feel the earth turn,
Our planet sigh

Sun on my face
Birds sing
Breeze in the trees
Then a butterfly

Soulful music
I breathe…
In the moment
I escape outside

I heard that they clapped, the people in the streets
There were so many, none of them I would meet
I wondered then, how much do they really know?

As we fought on the frontline, this new enemy
We were frightened and lonely because we couldn’t see
There was so much then that we didn’t know.

There was not enough testing, not enough PPE
That’s why her apology seemed insulting to me
We need honest support & not a political show

We live in the moment, we live to fight on
We give all we’ve got, to save someone
We’ve no time to think, Are we going to go?

We serve each other, more connected than we thought
We depend on each other, more equal than we thought
But will you remember that when this is all oe’r

Lockdown saves lives but at what a cost
The damage to the economy and all the jobs lost
Who will reap that which we now sow?

They started too late, they went their own way
They lost time but its not what they’ll say
But questions mount as deaths continue to grow

We live in the moment, we live to fight on
We give all we’ve got, to save someone
We’ve no time to think, Are we going to go?

We serve each other, more connected than we thought
We depend on each other, more equal than we thought
But will you remember that when this is all oe’r

I hear the word hero
I think nobility
Some great achievement
And courage I see

But is hero a tool
Within the culture we grow
To reap from others
More than we sow

Do heroes give to others
More than they receive?
While such a calculation
Is bad most believe.

So is a medal and praise
Reward enough?
While others live it well
And heroes live it rough

In our selfish culture
Surely all will soon see
To be a hero for others
Could be a mug for me

You chose him
You’re responsible
He’s a symptom of your disease
You’re not anymore
Some shining city on a hill
You fill the world with unease
You’re now losing
All the wonder
You had found
Empty vessels make most sound

He ain’t patriotic
He don’t pay taxes
He insults war hero McCain
He sows division
Making many incisions
With insulting tweets again
He makes fake news
Cos he don’t want
Your feet on the ground
Empty vessels make most sound

He destroys
& He divides
Cos he can’t create
He lies
& He insults
Cos he’s threatened by what’s great
He pollutes
& He poisons
All that he’s around
Empty vessels make most sound