Before dawn,
the world breathless~
heartbeats
become tethers
to the whims of fate
and old dreams
flying
out of reach.
Fickle
fate holding
our fortunes
hostage to power~
meager money eked out
from
minions of despots.
Defense of freedom
takes a courage
rare and dearly won
Through wars endured
with tyrants scourged
and despots on the run
The words in place
by Founders Ink
on parchment
closely held
As children roam
the halls of light
with precepts
— deeply felt
(The New Room: February, 2025)
To be the greatest nation on Earth
One must have a dream people can follow
The land must be free like the freedom the previous inhabitants intended
Not taxed, refinanced and incarcerated
One must have a Lady Liberty
The same one who welcomed my ancestors here
With open arms and Thanksgiving
One must hold other nations accountable
So their citizens won’t want to flock here
So that the pursuit of happiness is everywhere
A manifest destiny to overthrow tyrants, dictators, and despots!
A manifest destiny to free the people of the world
and start adding stars to the flag!
A manifest destiny to feed the poor,
house the homeless,
and be the hero when disaster strikes!
Watch out World!
A Jesus power motivated country!
"In GOD We Trust"
The world is dying, yet the quietness develops,
As shadows shroud the cries underneath the stone.
Where when we discussed harmony, presently nobody knows,
The reverberations suffocated by voices, lost and solitary.
Underneath the heaviness of despots' iron hands,
The earth is bound in chains of delicate falsehoods.
We long for broken skies and brilliant sands,
However all we find are debris and empty cries.
The ink that once brought light presently stains the page,
No section can lift the distress from the spirit.
For words are just residue in this dim age,
A short lived flash, consumed by unending cost.
What's more, however we shout, the world remaining parts unhearing —
A story of truth, perpetually vanishing.
If it be lunatics rule half this world
And power mad despots tread where they please
If tyrant’s fists raised, leave no toe uncurled
And civilised nations fail to appease
If Reds share handshakes to serve malign ends
And kooks with nukes make many spines shiver
If despots trade ICBMs with friends
And NATO’s one voice betrays a quiver
If hospitals shield a terror downstairs
And each side seeks resolution in war
If one hostage freed, frees twenty of theirs
And war will be war like no war before
If all this be so then are we not done
And should we concede; the countdown’s begun
Nobody owns anything but everyone is rich - for what greater wealth can there be than cheerfulness, peace of mind, and freedom from anxiety? ~Thomas More
She won't let caretakers cut down wildflowers
living under the hedge at the boundary edge
of her very small plot in its very small slot
in the unending rows of homes in repose,
in which sameness is virtue and uniqueness is vitriol.
Rebellion is not trivial, in fact it is evil;
how dare you suppose, or try to expose
the snugly fit knots designed by despots;
the ones who make pledge, and use every sharp wedge
to split off the capers of the few troublemakers!
Epilogue: The woman who loved wildflowers has disappeared
and no one remembers her, or if she even existed at all.
On a mild Spring’s night
In the heartlands of Ulster
A prodigious child was born
For Ireland, to save her
A man of modest means
Yet formidable wit
The mystics he joined
A cause to commit
In poems and paintings
He found self expression
Yet through a noble pursuit
Would leave his impression
He traversed the country
On a campaign of recruitment
To free the impoverished through struggle
And the Co-operative movement
With Horace Plunkett and Connolly
He struggled for justice
Yet the Gombeens and the despots
Outweighed Caesar Augustus
Though Russell did not stop
In this quest for social reform
From misery to prosperity
One sought to transform
But the inconsiderate dogma
Of the Irish Free State
Meant to delay his mission
As the ‘Homestead’ must wait
George William Russell grew older
Crippled by usury
To wretched cancer, succumbed
Rest in peace, ‘AE’
How many soldiers lie silent and dead
How many mothers and wives live in dread
How many daughters and sons cry in bed
How many fathers have tears they can’t shed
Despots, dictators and terrorist groups
‘Cross fingered’ governments leaping through hoops
And talking is futile for lest we forget
Tyrants do missiles and not tete a tete
Atrocity first with all of its dying
Then there’s the lying and the denying
Posthumous medals for those who can’t say,
“Man: Could we use a round table today?”
Soldiers shall ever be falling like tears
When dead have no voice… and tyrants - no ears
Bus drivers and plumbers
don’t start the wars
The nurse or school teacher
too busy inured
What’s common among us
with tasks to withstand
The elected entitled
our blood on their hands
Without a real job
and whose terms don’t expire
They poison the well
with aggrandizements dire
To them it’s a game
that they cannot lose
Their voters just pawns
in a continual ruse
But one day the reaper
with sickle in hand
Will come to reclaim
what’s stolen bedamned
And the serfs will rise up
in an infamous rage
The despots left burning
—their ashes in shame
(Radnor Pennsylvania: June, 2023)
Since the very beginning of God's Creation,
Hate and strife has occurred between nation and nation.
Why can't people abide by the Golden Rule and do good;
Why can't people shun evil and dwell in brotherhood?
Why do evil despots think it necessary to others malign?
They will be dealt with since God says, "Revenge will be Mine!"
The Good Book says there will always be war and rumors of war,
But, why can't governments foster a brotherhood of love and rapport?
Humankind cries out for a world of peace and brotherhood!
Why not let it begin in your very own neighborhood?
There is more than the top music hit list
Despots armed with a lethal poison twist
Some say come down to their level
Disguised, distort as the devil
Or just do nothing if you get my gist.
Entered 'Hit List' Contest
Sponsor Joe Maverick 25/1/2023
two men two despots
butters the western style bread...
the trap lays in wait
© Harry J Horsman 2022
two men two despots
in conclusion with a third…
the west over trumped
© Harry J Horsman 2022
Tyrants, Despots and Dictators
remember it never ends well for tyrants, despots and dictators
4-13-22
Contest: Bite Size Poem No. 42
Sponsor: Line Gauthier
~ Contention grows beyond its mortal vail
to rail against suppression none condone,
for tyranny imposed shall not prevail
when liberty is paid in flesh and bone.
Let not the price deter the bold pursuit
for apprehension steals the breath of life,
arise in arms from ‘neath oppression's boot
to wield the whetted blade of freedom’s knife.
But war is not without its mortal cost,
it leaves all rationale in shadowed doubt,
for freedoms gained, when precious life is lost,
leave ironies triumphant in the bout.
When despots rage, devotion has no fear
as independence hones rebellion’s spear.
3-19-22
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