anti-war poem

Lest we forget the profiteers whose patriotism and bank balances were always beyond question. At the going down of the sun – we will remember them. [Editor's note: The inclusion of various politicians in the illustrations was an editor idea, not the poet's.]

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Lest we forget

Lest we forget
    the politicians who preached hate
    so their voters would sacrifice those they loved
At the going down of the sun – we will remember them

Lest we forget
    the politicians who preached hate
    so their voters would sacrifice those they loved
At the going down of the sun – we will remember them

Lest we forget
    the hacks who exaggerated and made-up stories
    to make the gullible feel threatened
    the threatened feel outraged
    and the outraged desperate to kill
At the going down of the sun – we will remember them

Lest we forget
    the generals who made the supreme sacrifice
    of others' lives
    by the million
At the going down of the sun – we will remember them

Lest we forget
    the armaments manufacturers
    for whom every war
    is the opportunity for a killing
At the going down of the sun – we will remember them

Lest we forget
    the profiteers whose patriotism and bank balances
    were always beyond question
At the going down of the sun – we will remember them

Lest we forget
    the public schools whose playing fields trained boys
    to lead men
    to death
    with nobility
At the going down of the sun – we will remember them

Lest we forget
    the popular culture
    of stage, books, magazines and songs which
    with most of the population collaborating
    glorified killing
At the going down of the sun – we will remember them

Lest we forget
    those who conscientiously objected
At the going down of the sun – we will remember them

Lest we forget
    those who could not endure the hell created by others
    and were shot at dawn
At the going down of the sun – we will remember them

Lest we forget
    the sanity of deserters
At the going down of the sun – we will remember them

        Anon