What sneaky sleuth slays what mystery and dream
What rascal truth hollows sympathy and fame
?
Whose violence rings the heaping hills, where gleams
The red swollen setting sun, ‘midst a song of blame and shame
?

Who wakens slow to the stench of crime embraced?
How repeated lies, blessed by fear disdain ambition lust
So swelter swell so muddling mix in the caged-rat haste
of a people lost from each other and from their sacred trust
?

Who slipped into the keep with guard and judge asleep
Who turned the wheel to raise the gate, that sword might steal
Round our ramparts steep, might stroll across our moat so deep
To hack our joyous order — ballots-anchored in the commonweal
?

For what?
For power’s draw you serve power’s worm
For shared sureness you bow to lies
To splice sliced scripture to law, you turn
away the Light that makes a smile wise.

And so your grin grows jagged, cruel and coarse
I watch from afar yet feel the blade twist my gut
You think me such shit it’s not crime to force
Your will on me, no sin to choose lies over what
You’ve made me out to be.

But this our compass ship
Compact and delicate
Not invincible nor inviolate
Held together by nought
But honest speech,
careful effort,
good intention

This is all we have,
The both of us
To keep us safe
From might makes right
From “real” and “true” as empty weapons
From “God” as human will stealing human law

Come back to me, broke down though I be
Come back to us; remember, and again see:

We already share a culture and a purpose:

Aware, clear, honest, accurate, competent,
loving-kind, joyfully-sharing:

Together sharing
the rights and responsibilities
of a free people.
we nudge our speech and government
gently
carefully
lovingly
towards the better
and away the worse —
Never sacrificing
what we already all share
for what we tell ourselves we are

We are one in the Love that chooses all
We will not
— No matter the lurching certainties —
sacrifice the
rules, laws, institutions, norms and bounds
that keep we the people in power
and our leaders
serving honestly, with good will,
accuracy, competency,
within limits appropriate
temporary rulers and lifelong citizens
— equals under the law, partners in the joy.

Author: BW/AW
Editor: AW/BW
Copyright: Andy Watson