A hall of sullen faces
Listen to the speech
Autocrat at the dais
Power out of reach
Protest swiftly punished
Taken off to gaol
Opposition finished
We never hear the wail
A friend of mine once told me
About my silences
He found them intimidating
More power than words can say
I have to say I was surprised
It never dawned on me
I thought myself a kindly one
I just didn’t see
And so it is with NATO
Our organised defence
We do not see how Putin
Could ever take offence
But Putin is an autocrat
An isolated man
Threats are all around him
And we are the biggest one
Brian Fahy
21 February 2023
Erris Poetry 