I remember the Coronation of the Queen
I a child in school in ‘53
I learned about the Empire
And the Union Jack
And then about the war
Thank God my dad came back
I heard about the colonies
And the Commonwealth
How England was a mighty power
And yes the National Health
But everything was American
From comics to TV
The cinema was Westerns
John Wayne Elvis Presley
We prayed for Russia after Mass
It seemed a fearful place
And Stalin we called Uncle Joe
It suited us I guess
The man he was a monster
But there were other fish to fry
A man called Adolf Hitler
More important that he die
And all my life the Cold War
The time for East/West spies
Len Deighton and Le Carre
And James Bond fantasies
And then the Berlin Wall came down
Really can it be true
The Soviet is finished?
A strange how do you do
America all powerful
In the hands of fools
Went to war wherever
We have got the tools
Then came 9/11
Bitter history
Then came the Revenge
Twisted hostility
Now the present warfare
Fuelled of course by fear
East and West at loggerheads
Nothing changes dear
Except the need the stop the war
Bring parties to a table
And find a way to live in peace
At least for that we’re able
Brian Fahy
9 April 2022
+ No country is without blame for wrongdoing. We are all sinners. It is good to acknowledge that and to be able to admit one’s faults.
When we have a clear enemy it is easy of course to point the finger of blame at them. It is a mutual game we play. We see the faults of Russia clearly. They are clear to see. We forget the faults of western powers these past fifty years. It suits us to do so. Our first item of business is to stop this war.
Erris Poetry 