on time

As I a child I wondered
What life was like before
War broke out in Europe
Cricket played on village greens
Actors shining from silver screens
Tube trains, trams, omnibuses
Full of people reading newsheets
Editorials and commentaries
On threat and risk
The rights and wrongs
The unlikelihood of something worse
No-one would be mad enough
To fire the shot, to call a bluff
To cross the line, to break the rules
With everyone so highly strung
It wasn’t long before war begun
Because one man believed
Might might succeed
At what? We all can bleed
For what? 
Today, it feels familiar
With more interest in the Premier League
Than the planet, or humanity
Behind the scenes or in directors’ boxes
Old men already rich
Beyond imagination’s reach
Still want more
More, more, more
Than our children can afford

~

CLP 25/02/2025