JUNE 2007
THE POLITICAL POEMS OF IAN REED
Statement From the Poet
I did not set out to be a political poet, but extraordinary perils call for an extraordinary response. If that grand usurpation of the White House in 2000 (along with its phoney Election 2004 offspring) had merely inculcated a vicious regime, that would certainly have demonstrated how History repeats itself. But it would not have screamed with the apocalyptic alarm now ringing in the ears of prophets.
For this usurpation did not just advance the sordid saga of human deception, but unleashed into the political realm dark and monstrous forces -- forces intent on annihilation and destruction -- that had hitherto been chained below.
Yet I do not want to overwhelm the reader with messages of doom and gloom. My political poems, all of which are included on this Website and accessible both by date and subject, represent only about one-third of my work in verse, leaving plenty of room for other themes such as Music, Love, and even the art of Poetry itself. Samples from these various collections are also posted here.
My poetry aims not just to warn and exhort, or even occasionlly to rebuke, but also to encourage, inspire, uplift, and entertain. You will see I use footnotes extensively throughout, to prompt the reader's further explorations into the infinite worlds of imagination seen by poets and seers through the ages.
I do not yet fully understand how biblical revelation speaks to current events, but I do hear resounding resonance with Scripture's references to the beast that utters blasphemies (Rev. 13:5); the man of lawlessness (2 Thess. 2:3-4); Satan masquerading as an angel of light and his sons as servants of righteousness (2 Cor. 11:14-15); and to the abomination that causes desolation (several references). Bear in mind that the prophet Daniel, who coined this last phrase, was also the one who interpreted the "writing on the wall."
These times require again the vision of poets and prophets, the true priests of divinity, truer to their calling than a whole assembly of politicians (with a few notable exceptions). Readers who are particularly interested in how Christian themes pertain to current events can go to 'Christianity, Hijacking of' in the Polemics theme page.
Keep safe.
Ian Reed
New York City
March 2005
'Blare - II'
- by Ian Reed ©-
The English poodle, tail between his legs,
Leaving behind his dirty legacy,
Bids farewell to the hand-picked sycophants
Stage-managed by a craven BBC.
The sop of rotten borough Sedgefield weeps
To favor brown-nose Brown as his successor,
And Bush says he will miss his "good friend,"
Blair,
His confidant, his Downing Street confessor,
Who's parting gesture is to prosecute --
Promoting Secrecy's close cousin, Shame --
Truth-tellers. Now all's said and done, he leaves,
Post-pity party, bearing History's blame.
May 2007
'Quel
Damage!'
- by Ian Reed© -
(on the election of Nicolas Sarkozy as France's
president)
"L'état c'est moi!" Bien sûr! "La guerre
c'est lui!"
Sarkozy cozies up to Washington
Après son coup d'état, fait accompli,
Son coup de grâce coupable, O quel con!
And Bush, in turn, giving the Frenchman head
Of state his tête-à-tête, for Liberté,
Égalité, Brutalité, has led
Another Europoodle to obey.
Beware this blessure blessing no noblesse
Oblige, extending entente cordiale entre
Le pay de France et l'Amérique. Hélas!
Ils sont, les deux, agents provocateurs!
Et attention, alors! La prochaine fois
Que terrorisme façe son rendezvous
À Paris, je crois pas la mauvaise foi
Disant Iran est responsable en lieu.
Ce pas de deux, faux pas, faut pas! Suffit!
That says to dogs of war Bon Appetit!
En bref, a French mot-juste s'applique içi --
A phrase we English borrow -- "C'est la merde!"
May 2007
'Dieu Est Mon Droit'[1]
- by Ian Reed ©-
(Sonnet on Prince Harry's Absence From Iraq)
Time was when one Prince Harry went before
The common soldiers in the battlefield,
And admirable Admiral Nelson wore
Full colors aboard Victory unconcealed.
But H. C.A.D. Windsor [2] of the
"Blues and Royals"
Will not set boot in Iraq's killing dunes:
Let other mothers' sons die for War's spoils
While you parade and whistle martial tunes.
Holding, as Nelson's summons is repenned,
Your manhood cheap,[3] England
expects
Every poor man will do his duty.[4]
Men
Die while your palace Privilege protects.
Forget decrees of kings[5] and
royal vow;
Class warfare is the real battle now.
May 2007
________________________________
[1] "Dieu et mon
droit" is the British Royal Family's motto,
inscribed beneath its coat of arms. Translated from the
French, it means "God and my right." The
poem's title, playing on the homonyms "et" and
"est," means "God is my
right," suggesting Harry is invoking the Divine
Right of Kings to avoid military service in Iraq.
[2] Prince Harry's full name is
Henry Charles Albert David Windsor.
[3] See William Shakespeare, Henry
V, IV.iii.66
[4] Nelson's signal to the
British fleet before the victorious Battle of Trafalgar,
1805, famously read: "England expects that every man
will do his duty."
[5] See William Shakespeare,
Sonnet 115.6'Dieu
Est Mon Droit' - by Ian Reed
'Nincompoop'
- by Ian Reed ©-
(on a sparrow's deposit on Bush during press conference,
May 24, 2007)
The humblest sparrow drops not to the earth
without the Lord's consent [1]
and thus we may read in a bird's overture
Heaven's divine intent.
'Twas in the Rose Garden where Bush twittered
how wisely he'd appointed
Gonzales, that Nature's call did say it all
to show how the man was anointed.
And as this message came home to rest,
a prophecy was served:
to underscore King Solomon's saw
how richly the curse was deserved.[2]
So we may learn, as Bush parrots his part,
a whitewash may serve after all;
there's special providence and godly design
in a sparrow's timely fall.[3]
Although Bush tried to wipe the outside
as pharisees have done before him, [4]
his course from crowing to eating crow
must serve the wages of sin.
The lofty eagle is overthrown;
Creation has spoken its word,
and who would dispute the blatant rebuke
when God gives Bush the bird!
May 24, 2007
________________________________
[1] Matthew 10:29
[2] See Proverbs 26:2
[3] See William Shakespeare, Hamlet,
V.ii.217-218
[4] Matthew 23:25'Nincompoop'
- by Ian Reed
'Polemics,' a collection of political
verse assembled since 2001, is
at http://www.reedandwrite.com/Political_Poems_date.shtml