Here’s a gun. Take it. Use it on your foes.
(How many dead on your side no one knows)
Defend your towns (which now are shards and stubble,
Your great cathedrals turned to smoking rubble)
Worry not though : if you remain alive
You’re sure to win and freedom will survive.
No Surrender is not bold enough
No Negotiations is the Right Stuff !
We’re happy to provide weapons galore
If you lose some we’ll give you plenty more
Our well-trained workforce famous for their skill
Are now obliged to make machines that kill
Or lose their jobs and join The Others, those
Ill housed ill fed forced to wear cast-off clothes.
Is there no waking from this man-made nightmare ?
There is ! If we direct our money where
It can assuage the anguish here at home
And while we care for our unhappy own
Our allies overseas will do their part
Replacing ill-will with a change of heart
So if we mind our business and they theirs
Posterity will bless us as their heirs.
Robert Ilson
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