The Warsaw Uprising

What is freedom? The brief period of anarchy between the last tyranny and the next? Are we free if we cannot see the cage? Or feel the chains? What if our masters lengthen our leashes? Only to tighten their hold at a whim? How can we be free without rule of law? And who can we trust to enforce this law? How long before we scream for the security of slavery? Do we adopt the tyranny of the masses and choose our masters? Or use our hard fought freedom on behalf of the people? What price are we willing to pay for our freedom? Free to live in the ruin we claim? Free to eat the food we can scavenge? Free to love who we can trade scant coin for? Free to die for someone's cause? Who are free people anyway? Free people are brothers Until they betray us And dash our freedom against the rocks of realpolitiks That makes our philosophy moot We debated the night before the uprising Dividing the spoils of freedom Which we could never win The motherland, the fatherland Both accepted Solomon's judgement Without Solomon's wisdom They tore our beloved nation asunder The bloody halves divided And trampled under boot And as any bargain between devils It could not last One betrayed the other First the fatherland stampeded east With boot and wheel and track and wing With bayonet, bullet, shell and bomb And murder Then the motherland stampeded west With boot and wheel and track and wing With bayonet, bullet, shell and bomb And revenge And as the motherland approached our broken city They held out a hand of friendship Hid inside a blood soaked glove Our blood Stand up and fight! Take back your city! The fatherland is retreating! We'll support you! Strike for freedom! We're your brothers! Trust us! As drowning men will clutch at anvils Thrown to them in jest or hate Or cold calculation We chose to believe Though no-one believed Not really Is the enemy of our enemy our friend? No. We were just their plaything As we took arms against our cruel oppressors The motherland's might and thunder Just stood and watched Heedless to our cries for help Soulless betraying eyes witnessed the unfolding horror As hell was unleashed There is no disease No matter how trivial That cannot be cured By cutting out the beating heart With utmost fervour And burning the host's remains So sadists clad in the uniforms of the fatherland Followed orders with grinning delight Indulged their base desires Their savagery methodical As street by street And building by building Most were massacred The rest expelled The city levelled As the fatherland fled The motherland gave chase We were no longer a threat to our freedom The dirty deeds already done by their foes We could now enjoy the industrial serfdom of the motherland As brothers in chains At least some of us survived But survival is never enough And even if others forget our fight We'll keep our struggle alive in our tales One day we will join our brothers in freedom And rebuild our story Entry to the "the swords speak" contest Written 21st January 2017