Terry Ireland Poet Rhyme

Burning Books

There will be book burning
Somewhere in the world today.
At Fahrenheit 451 
Paper curls and browns away
Wiping inconvenient views,
Erasing trains of thought
As those trapped words,
Those expressions once caught
In once pristine volumes
Physically disappear.
And only the approved 
Can be read without fear.
But in time 
Those dictators of dogma find
They can remove the physical
But can't brainwash every mind. 
Again in time,
Though they may not know why
Enlightenment
May make their hidebound ideas die,
Until, inevitably
Though we can't know when
The fanatics and their fantasies
Will rise again.
All the freedoms 
So very hard earned
Will be taken   
And books will be burned.

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John Lawless November 21, 2022 at 10:37 AM I think the "when" is "now" as books are being removed from the schools because they don't support the "narrative" of the season......for the good of the children.... Terry Ireland November 21, 2022 at 10:44 AM Frightening isn't it. Thanks John

Ilene Bauer November 21, 2022 at 9:38 AM i remember reading fahrenheit 451 years ago, not really understanding that this could and would happen again. such narrow-mindedness, it boggles the brain! great poem, terry... Terry Ireland November 21, 2022 at 10:42 AM thanks Ilene - Nazi Germany, Mao's China, Pol Pot's Cambodia - where next? An amazing book which, like you, i read many years ago. Terry