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LAST THOUGHTS ON FIDEL

TO THOSE ABOUT TO LIE, AND THOSE WHO SALUTE YOU,

NEVER HAS SO MUCH, BEEN STOLEN FROM SO MANY,

BY SO FEW.

THE LIBERAL COMMENTARIAT KNOWS A THING OR TWO

ABOUT THAT. ET TU BRUTE? ET TU?

 

I’M WATCHING LATE NIGHT TELEVISION,

WITH THE RADICALS CALLING THE SHOTS.

THEY’RE REVIEWING WEST-END MUSICALS,

WHILE THE WORLD’S DOWNTRODDEN ROTS.

 

THE PHILOSOPHERS OF ‘CAUSE CELEBRE’

ARE LIVING ON BORROWED FAME.

WHILE ALL ALONG THE BOULEVARDS

JIHADISTS CARVE THEIR NAME.

 

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE ANGRY BRIGADE?

RED MOLE, AND BLACK DWARF?

THE ANTHEMIC SHAM OF STREET FIGHTING MAN

HAS WELL AND TRULY RUN ITS COURSE.

 

BLACK LIVES ABUSED, FAKE NEWS IS USED

TO ENSURE NO ONE GETS THE BLAME.

BE CAREFUL WHO YOU SPEAK TO,

THERE’S A MAN DOWNTOWN TAKING NAMES.                                               

 

THE RADIO SAID, ‘EL COMMANDANTE IS DEAD',

BUT THE STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM LIVES ON.

WHILE THE GHOST OF BATISTA, SITS IN TRUMP TOWER,

[FORMERLY THE PENTAGON].

 

YOU WERE THERE ON THAT DAY, WITH RAUL, AND CHE',

IN TUXPAN, AS THE GRAMMA SET SAIL.

WHILE THE BULLWHIPS CRACKED, THE POVERTY SHACKS

OFFERED REFUGE ALONG THE TRAIL.

 

NO ONE KNEW THEN, AS NO ONE KNOWS NOW,

WHEN THE CHANGE WOULD COME.

A TINY SPARK CAN LIGHT UP THE DARK.........

‘VIVA LA LIBERACION!’

               

◄ THE POETRY CAFE [Café' Grande, Dudley]

SHADOWS ►

Comments

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Greg Freeman

Wed 9th Sep 2020 09:35

I love this stanza: 'Whatever happened to the Angry Brigade? / Red Mole, and Black Dwarf? / The anthemic sham of Street Fighting Man/ has well and truly run its course." Good questions. The Stones have now opened a merchandise shop in London with their silly lips and tongue logo well to the fore. The song itself had a self-deprecating truth to it. 'The anthemic sham of Street Fighting Man.' That's a great line! And perfect iambic pentameter!

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raypool

Wed 10th Jul 2019 12:46

Forgive me going off piste Trevor - I don't like to get drawn in to politics, and to try would not do justice to the intensity of your poem. I just would say as a musician that the intensity and glory of their rhythms says a lot to me about the soul of the people; therefore I would imagine it might be a factor in the mindset; of a sort of protest inherent in their nature. I know that's hard to take in, but South American latin music has it too, and look at the regimes .... the American songbook is much more persuasive in a sentimental way.

Sorry, just my thoughts, which I feel I should share.

Ray

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Martin Elder

Mon 24th Jun 2019 16:33

I am not usually one for political poems but this held me from beginning to end. Superb Trevor

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M.C. Newberry

Mon 24th Jun 2019 15:32

It is a sorry fact that political extremes exist and there is often no
difference in the misery of the outcome. Power abhors a vacuum
and one tragedy follows another in too many lands where progress
should exist. Perhaps temperament has something to do with it?
Look at the difference between what was gained/settled in North
America and the frequent turmoil that is a feature of life in its huge neighbour in the south. Maybe that's why Trump is so set on his
wall, using the premise: prevention is better than cure.

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