A rather grim poem, occasioned in part by the video of all the prams representing all the children killed in the conflict in Ukraine. To achieve his objective, Putin will slaughter anyone, even children, just as King Herod did in the bible story, and just as full of a fanaticism fuelled by fear that he may lose. His language, saying that Russia is now united as never before, smacks of Orwell's critique in 1984 of how language could be misused by the party, and by "Big Brother". And just as Orwell's distopia revealed, this is a Russia ruled by fear, where even the slightest protest meets with arrest and imprisonment, and probably will not stop there. As the Salisbury poisonings demonstrated, there are no ethical boundaries that he will not cross.
The Dark and the Light
The Dark: a damp cellar under ground
No heat or light, not much of a hiding place
Where one can hear the incessant sound
Of bombs falling, exploding, making space
The Light: dawning ruins of broken flats
Rubble, and the silence of the dead
Among brick fragments, scavenge rats
Remains of a great city filled with dread
Unity is strength: madman addresses crowds
A rallying cry to victory by exploding shell
While young and old await their shrouds
And the madman creates on earth a hell
The conflict of our time: darkness and light
Massacre of the innocent, madman’s delight
The Dark: a damp cellar under ground
No heat or light, not much of a hiding place
Where one can hear the incessant sound
Of bombs falling, exploding, making space
The Light: dawning ruins of broken flats
Rubble, and the silence of the dead
Among brick fragments, scavenge rats
Remains of a great city filled with dread
Unity is strength: madman addresses crowds
A rallying cry to victory by exploding shell
While young and old await their shrouds
And the madman creates on earth a hell
The conflict of our time: darkness and light
Massacre of the innocent, madman’s delight
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