Since royal England had her nose bloodied*
by her first colony in the midst of her 93rd war –
which we, the world’s people, call the first war,
She works overtime, and overseas,
to tamp the poet’s fire, Irish or not,
to see that obedience to kings has been restored.
She perfected the Poet’s Noose during
her Crimean war; so pinched by the lariat
of laurels he wore, Lord Tennyson made**
Sound heroic all commoners who ride,
on royal orders, into the valley of death.
We, the people, must forever reason why –
or decorate our caves with human hide.
Dave Read
* – The Easter Rising, a.k.a. The Poet’s Rebellion, of April, 1916 led to the partial liberation of Ireland, but with a partition that created Northern Ireland and another century of intermittent guerrilla and quasi-official warfare.
** – The Charge of the Light Brigade is an example of spin verse, composed to comfort his powerful royal patron, while reminding the commoner’s of their duty of obedience, no matter it cost their ever-so disposable lives.