Sitting it out
So we might sit this one out
Not because of fright
Or an outbreak of humbleness
Or because the weakness
Of common sense has
Sapped the ferocity of
The armchair generals
But because we don’t have the numbers.
Politics is ephemeral
So its not about what is fair
It’s about what is possible
And those in the know
Know that right now we have
No stomach for war
Except war with ourselves.
It didn’t start with Kosovo
But that righteous interlude
Reawakened the sense
That we were masters of events
And we knew what was best
Not just for ourselves
But also for others.
The others were multitude
And we were like lemmings
Called by unseen forces
To lend our arms and voices
To what was correct; to unite
In spreading the light.
But that light was very bright
And when we look back
At the flash bang moments
It seems we often acted in error
And on reflection
Long shadows from Irak
Leave burned on our retinas
The after images of terror.
So, even though evil in Syria
Should be worried about
And we are not dealing
With dodgy dossiers
But rather the facts
And the pathetic scenes
Of children being hosed down
In Douma after another
Heartless chemical attack
Launched by Russia and Assad
Rightly makes our blood boil
We need to learn the lesson
Of not going to worse from bad;
That’s history’s curse.
So when the old war horse snorts
And the ears prick up
And we wake from our slumbers
To the gunfire’s shout
Calling us to the front
I’m glad we don’t have the numbers
And we might sit this one out.