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An Open Letter To The British Government

by Mickey 

Posted: 08 August 2008
Word Count: 301
Summary: I just kind of felt ‘compelled’ to write this (someone had to). As a poem I am pleased that I have managed to maintain fourteen syllables to each line – does that constitute any particular poetic ‘form’?


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You gave away our Commonwealth, you gave away our oil,
you sold our gold to Europe, and our rich beloved soil,
for which our fathers fought so hard and granddads gave their lives,
you’ve handed on to drunken louts and drugged-up kids with knives.

You fell in with the anti-christ and took us off to war.
You fed us lies and said the prize was well worth fighting for.
You unleashed terror on the world and, where we once were free,
we’ve ID cards and DNA and damned CCTV.

Political Correctness means no longer can we laugh
at Jocks and Micks and Pakis, and a simple photograph
no longer gets us on a plane - our iris must be scanned.
And rats infest the dustbins in this once so pleasant land.

We used to have a Ruling Class, but ‘Knighthoods of the Realm’
can now be bought by foreign crooks with you lot at the helm.
We daren’t assist our fellow man or break up drunken fights
without the risk of running foul some scumbag’s ‘human rights’

Your Health and bloody Safety rules stop kids from climbing trees
in case – Shock, Horror! – they might fall or graze their little knees.
Our children can’t encounter ‘risk’, but what this really means
is fat and surly teenagers in front of TV screens.

The French own all our power, and the Spanish run our banks.
We need a bloody overdraft to fill our petrol tanks.
We’ve teenaged Mums on benefit, and teachers who can’t spell,
our police are armed with carbines, and there’s three to every cell.

Our government’s integrity’s irreparably stained
with greedy snouts all slurping at the EU gravy train.
You bloody politicians get away with such a lot -
If this was South America you’d all be bloody shot!






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Comments by other Members



James Graham at 20:42 on 14 August 2008  Report this post
It’s quite impressive, managing all those lines of 14 syllables and 7 metric feet, with perfect rhyme as well - making so many political barbs fit into that framework. By the end of the poem I couldn’t help feeling, though, that maybe there are too many different barbs, too many accusations - though many of them certainly do hit the mark. It might be worth trying a poem concentrating on one political theme, e.g. our government’s foreign adventures, or better still, everything to do with loss of civil liberties such as ID cards, surveillance, databases of every phone call and text message sent by anybody anywhere, iris scanning etc. I imagine there would be huge potential for satire in this. Still, as I said, technically as a strict metrical and rhyming poem, this is impressive.

James.

joanie at 20:08 on 19 August 2008  Report this post
Oh, Mike, this is all so bloody TRUE! Well done, as always, and congratulations for having the courage! One thing, though... I'm a teacher and I CAN spell (usually) and I'm pretty hot on grammar too! However, I know exactly what you mean! I like the way you're punctuating and using capitals as if in prose!! (most of the time) I hope you think it works better - I do!

joanie


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