It has been a year of mourning
Even early there were warnings
But it’s not celebrities I grieve
It’s the loss of what I believe
I was raised for a world of reason
Where dissent was vital, not accused of treason
Where arguments were won by word
Not the volume at which they’re heard
Now all our politicians do is pander
The news decayed to propaganda
Our anger has been monetised –
To increase profits, amplified
We were surprised, we found it numbing
As if we couldn’t see this coming
But maybe we chose not to see
The simmering catastrophe
We loathed Bibi, cheered Berlusconi
Dismissed Le Pen and all her cronies
Saw them gain power yet not understand
‘It could never happen in this (green and) pleasant land’
But when we’re given the same choices
All we heard were hateful voices
We showed the world we’re just the same
Our leaders also play that lethal game
Finding cracks within the nation
Widening them with fears of immigration
Or inflation, or even war
Then tell us it’s worth fighting for
Their job should be to find consensus
Yet all they say is “you’re with us or against us”
To us this rot has now extended
“Toe the line or be defriended!”
We’ve closed our minds and closed our ears
We only talk to those who share our fears
On the left, the right, with any view
The zealots say that only their path is true
We scorn all outside our bubble
Call them insane or the cause of trouble
Shout down our own sister or brother
Transform them from person into ‘other’
And so the lesson becomes clear
We must remember how to hear
How to listen to a statement that offends us
Even something we find horrendous
And tell them calmly why we disagree
With no anger or hyperbole
Or telling them what they’re allowed to think
Perhaps we can bring debate back from the brink
But most of all, we must recognise
Reality is seen through 14 billion eyes
And every last one of them is human
And shares this tiny rock, around our distant sun
Peace <ᵎᵒᵎ3
Dataphiles' Music Madness 