Each time he gave voice to pity, to waste –

'Abstract values' in a certain parlance –

Some people would turn and say: ‘That’s no good;

You have to take sides, find someone to blame,

Separate the good guys from the villains,

Find a flag to wave, learn a proper chant.

Your words should sting like a pointed finger.’

 

He understood the lure of a world

Of certainty, where all doubt is banished.

Conformity could be so attractive.

Then he thought of the innocents; skewered

Or blown fifty yards into the rubble.

Did they take sides, as their death embraced them?

He hushed his voice, unsure how to proceed.