Spectacle

Fascist is a lazy pejorative.

Too often a head of state struts and preens,

Engineering unedifying scenes;

His rhetoric and bluster combative.

The president becomes the spectacle

Personified, appears more an unsurer

Il Duce, than some latter day Fuehrer,

In his pomposity. The debacle

Unfolding of governance by whim,

And ideology of “what I say

Is forever true”, at least for today:

All resolution dissolves in him.

Endorsed by a cabal of the willing,

Willing themselves a financial killing.

D. A.

The Great Game

In the Great Game every player’s a dealer,

All shuffling the pack and palming a few,

Each card-sharp coldly determined to screw

The others and become the scene stealer,

The one who will gamble all he has got,

By raising the stakes again and again

Until others throw in their hands, and then

Laugh in their faces as he scoops the pot.

Very few play, but everyone loses

For as long as we allow this charade:

The name of the game? International trade.

Unless the great majority chooses

To close capital’s casino, and regard

The world improved without any Trump card.

D. A.

 Financial Statement

The chancellor stands to address the House,

Facing the vehemently disinclined,

Self-righteous, ambitious critics behind,

Knowing this financial statement must douse

Any ambition that needs might be met,

The reform fallacy will be laid bare,

Once again, the money is just not there,

No matter the targets set and reset.

Then some rogue state prepares to hinder trade,

Profits and growth begin to be expunged

And around the world stock markets have plunged,

Negating any financial plans made.

The chancellor, the statement completed,

Sits down again, utterly defeated.

D. A.

Change

The deserving and undeserving poor

Will be forever with us so it seems,

At least as long as capitalism’s

Allowed to remain. Poverty and war

Are its indelible marks, that might be

Obscured for a while by some cosmetic

Concealer, liberally applied by a sleek

Politician, who’s not actually free

To do much else, as it’s accountancy

That must have the final decisive say

While capital continues to hold sway,

The determinant of philosophy.

It’ll not change the world unless and until

Real change has become the popular will.

D. A.

Not Peace

There are ceasefires and rumours of ceasefires:

Behind the scenes diplomacy takes place,

With everyone desperate to save face,

Even as another deadline expires.

Arms industry profits continue to soar,

While the attrition rate’s unforgiving,

As also the rising cost of living

For the many dispossessed, who’re still poor.

And it’s the self-same poor’s sons and daughters

Who’ll make the munitions and build the tanks,

As well as being recruited to the ranks,

Then dispatched to the various slaughters.

Meanwhile, grandiose leaders strut around

On what they claim as their moral high ground.

D. A.

Appeasement

There’s insistence amongst political

Gangsters that only bellicosity

Can deter a rival’s ferocity;

Be a serpent, not a worm that turns tail,

With the inevitable consequence,

Of aggressors taking encouragement

From any expressed pacific intent.

Munich’s often cited, with an implied sense

It is moral turpitude and weakness

To insist war is a terrible waste,

While any real peace can only be based

On martialled military means to impress.

Alternatives, however realistic,

Tend to send politicians ballistic.

D. A.

Socialist Sonnet No.184 (A)

Challenging (1)

There is a challenge to we advocates

Of our world being transformed by conscious choice,

Here is the quaver of doubt in my voice.

I’m a frequent witness to parlous states

Hedgerows, verges and lay-bys are left in;

Tree hung dog-poo bags, or tied up and tossed

Amongst bottles and cans and slimy waste

Of fast food cartons by those bereft in

Their social concern, the couldn’t-carers

For whom self not others matters the most.

Meanwhile, volunteers are doing their best

To make things better, as litter pickers.

Social and anti-social, here’s a schism

That’s not the fault of capitalism.

Socialist Sonnet No.184 (B)

Challenging (2)

It certainly seems at times there are those

Who are despoilers, being bent on making

The world worse, intent only in taking,

Without consideration or remorse.

They stand in contradistinction to all

The many, many unreported acts

Of humanity, unacknowledged facts,

Obscured by the far fewer that appal.

People can choose, sometimes it’s the wrong choice,

Hindering progress, even appearing

To reverse it.  Those resolved on steering

Towards better, need a persistent voice

Amidst the clamour of competing views,

And media dedicated to bad news.

D. A.

Security?

Does security have a going rate?

What, precisely, is the calculation

Demanded by protecting the nation

And its capital? It’s the other state,

Of course, aggressively belligerent

And quite determined to get its own way,

Which is responsible for this outlay

On our proud military deterrent.

Whatever’s spent, the other then spends more,

Thereby by forcing increased expenditure,

But never enough, it seems, to be sure

Peace will be achieved and maintained through war.

When they attack their aggression’s immense,

When we attack it’s always self-defence.

D. A.

Dealing

The dealer shuffles the pack and then deals;

With thousands, maybe millions being staked.

A high rolling gambler’s thirst won’t be slaked

Until all hands have been played. Who then steals

The pot, raking in the chips and stacking

Them in neat columns, a harsh histogram

Of winners and losers? Those the cards damn

Find they’re living lives suddenly lacking

A roof, food on the table, or even

A table, or so much as a gutter

To lie in. All who’re drawn by a flutter

Stake their fortunes on the dealer, who then

Calls trumps and deals – one state, two states or more,

Knowing when tricks are turned there’ll still be war.

D. A.

Commercial Property

Commercial bids, sealed of course, are invited

For this intractable tract of land, freed

By eviction, coming with guaranteed

Vacant possession. We are delighted,

As appointed agents of the present

Administrators, this prime real estate

Is offered to those who negotiate,

On their own behalf, with the sole intent

Of maximising profit potential.

Partial demolition, but site clearance

Requires completion. Such a golden chance

Rarely comes to market. Need for quick sale!

While there’s unquestioned viability,

Vendors can’t accept liability.

D. A.