Countrymen, My Countrymen

(This poem is a reflection of my mood on November 6, 2008 and again on January 20th.)

Where has discernment gone, countrymen, my countrymen?

When will your eyes see your error, what you have done? When

“The days have gone down in the West … into shadow,”

And the world of men falls into chaos below?

What will you say when your world is no more,

You who have chosen to give up this war?

What will you do when they come to your door,

And there is no escape anymore?

Will you then take back this empty choice?

Why did you follow naught but a voice?

Why did you choose this, what were you offered?

How were you deceived by what was proffered?

And why was it so easy?

Where has your courage gone, countrymen, my countrymen?

When did battle become the choice that you feared most? When

Did freedom lose all to the dream of endless peace,

And the ever vain hope that all battles might cease?

“Is … peace so sweet as to be purchased at

The price of chains and slavery”, yes, that

Is the question left unasked. And hereat

We must never shrink from the just combat.

But how will your strength return again,

Once you are conquered what will remain?

Why did you lose heart, why did you give in?

What caused this cowardice to begin,

And can you be brave once more?

Where has your freedom gone, countrymen, my countrymen?

When did its value fade, what did they tell you, and when

Did they begin? How is it that what you held dear

And sacred and inviolable now you fear?

You could give it up without a tear!

How foolish your choice soon will appear.

What will you then do to change this doom?

Will you wait ‘till your land is a tomb,

And the “forgotten people” you become?

What then, what then will be reckoned the sum

Of the greatness that you lost?