The walls are steel.
The walls are high.
The walls are strong.
The walls are long.
Drip.
The soldiers train.
Sunshine or rain.
The soldiers march.
The soldiers march.
Drip. A peasant shares her bread.
The lash is long.
The money tempts.
Cruelty rules.
Lewd one drools.
Drop. Drip. Someone truly cares.
The king lacks love
Wears iron glove.
The lackeys obey
Every day.
Drip. Drip. Drip. Another chooses love instead.
Ozymandias too:
He strove to do
What can’t be done.
Not done by anyone.
Pitter patter. Pitter patter. Another someone dares.
Agent, spy, tank and gun.
They cannot keep you
From your golden grave
But weapons do deprave.
Splash, splash. The understanding reaches flash.
Afraid of brains,
The kings use chains.
With freedom gone,
Creativity drains.
Muddy waters roil.
Burble as they boil.
Lashes wound but waterfalls
Become a tide of epic fails.
All who live in stony jails
Hear the sirens; hear the calls.
Dripping drops become a tide.
A mile high, a hundred wide.
At last we learn the hidden cost
Summer simmer, frozen frost.
At last we see the trees.
They bend and twist
In twos and threes.
Forests die while hates persist.
Fires, floods and famines find
Fertile land for odious brand.
Brigand, brag, and burning branch.
The Golden Rings to powers bind.
And after all has burned to hell.
And nowhere left is fit to dwell.
Then at last will everyone see.
We didn’t have to play for greed.
We could instead have planted seed.
And let the water gently fall upon the land.
We’d Eden in our grasp it seems.
Instead we joined the bang-up band.
Drip. Drip. Another act of kindness turns the tide.
A tidal wave a mile high, a thousand miles wide.
(Or we could turn this ship of fate
And open every heart with gratitude
Alter every selfish attitude.
Live and love and dance and mate).
The answer lies with what we do.
Not just me. And not just you.
It’s what we all could choose to be.
We could save humanity.
We will save humanity.
Not just me. And not just you.
The answer lies with what we do.
It’s what we all could choose to be.
petersironwood 