A commentary in poetry

“United we stand, divided we fall”

The ancient truth of Aesop stands, an axiom unchallenged.
When we unite, no power on earth we cannot overcome.
Our rulers know this. They understand the power of the masses.
And so conspire to set us one against the other, dividing into classes,

exploiting every negative to keep us separate.
Relying on our ignorance, our apathy, our hate.
The saddest testament is how we live, and what we say,
continuing the lies they thrust upon us every day.

We've learned this canticle of  propaganda all too well.
So tell, me, brother, sister, is it time for us to swell
into a single mass and cry together, “NO! NO MORE!”
“We've had it with your petty lies, your avarice and war,

your struggles to protect the rich and keep the poor contained,
your greed in keeping everything within your rich domain.
Your politics and trickery replaced the chains of old,
we're tired of waiting patiently for what will never come.”

Think carefully, my brethren, before you stand with me,
for greed and avarice will not go quietly.
They'll use their laws and armies to attempt to keep us down.
They'll call us communists and claim we are the ones,

the real culprits of the cause of all your loss and pain.
They'll whittle at the least of us til nothing else remains.
Unless you really want this world to change, don't stand at all,
go back in to your closet, go spray paint on your wall,

do nothing, and hope someday your children will be wise,
not following the path that you have set before their eyes,
but rising to the knowledge that we are of one race,
and understanding being human is not about a place,

a sea, a book, traditions, or how we think of God,
but a universal kinship, a vast genetic bond.
We are HUMAN, we are one, we are united in our blood,
inherent in our strength is our desire to be one.

So, tell me, brother, sister, can you offer up your lives,
to realize a dream where people everywhere survive
in harmony and unity, without the chains of old?
Are you willing to be brave? Are you willing to be bold?

Are you willing to be tolerant, and can you understand,
the differences among us are the power to be grand?
The colors of the rainbow exist within our hearts.
Are you willing to embrace them, give love a fresh, new start?

I would not have you answer me from lurching gut reaction,
but having thought this through, discussing with each faction,
if we are willing as a race to put away the past
and bring the new millennium of peace to Earth at last.

I've little more to say on this, my sermon's at an end.
If nothing else, I hope that you are thinking now, my friend.
I'll add one final epigram, these words you should recall,
“united we will surely stand, divided we will fall.”

Frederick Smith
© June 23, 2012