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Saturday 20 April 2013

TYRANNICIDE

At the end
he saw them rush at him, seemingly
from nowhere and assumed
they had come to greet him
in celebration of his latest victory.
But they had no mercy, these turncoats;
no respect for his greatness,
as they stripped and tortured him
publicly.

What madness was this?
Had they forgotten who he was,
all he had done for them?
How he had risked his life
to seize power from a corrupt regime
in order to rebuild their country
brick by social brick
into a force to be reckoned with?
And he did it for them.
Surely they must see
that such independence has it's price:
that contrary views could not be tolerated,
that opposition must be eradicated
by whatever means necessary.
And fear was the only weapon
that was certain to control
a wealthy but unstable nation
like theirs...

But all they could see
were butchered kinsmen:
women, children - anyone
brave enough to challenge
the lies, treachery and broken promises
of a barbaric dictator, who
callously described such slaughter
as justifiable means.
And they'd finally had enough...

'What have I ever done to you?' he cried,
as he lay dying in the sweltering heat.
And a tearful young boy murmured,
'When they murdered my daddy,
you cheered...'
 

14 comments:

  1. A wonder sense of history. Very, very good.

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  2. a wonderful chronicle - written in a brilliant way!

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  3. powerful! the last stanza hurt. so well done again. xo

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    1. Thank you Nyssa.
      I wrote this at the time, but then decided not to publish for a while as it was such a sensitive subject to so many people.xx

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  4. Brings to mind A Tyrannicidous-Rex (Tyrannosaurus Rex) :)

    And so the circle continues.

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    1. Yes...I see your point! haha.
      Hope this cycle comes to a close though.
      Many thanks Gnome.:)

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  5. Wow! First you engineer a slide in our sympathies and then hit us with that fab' last line. Amazing poem! Amazing read.

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    1. Thank you so much Dave!
      I felt a need to record his passing...from all viewpoints.
      So glad you enjoyed reading it.:)

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  6. You pen dear lady is as swift and sharp as a sword. Amazing piece of writing!

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    1. Rose, you are so kind!
      Many, many thanks.:)

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  7. Sacrifice the one for the many or the many for the one?
    And, who decides which is right?
    I believe it is perspective and, multifaceted as perspective is, there can be no judgement passed.

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    1. So true, Dale...and although I tie my mind in knots trying to fathom it, I've never yet been able to come to a conclusion.
      Many thanks.:)

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