Peace and Safety

 

When we saw him we cried,  

          “Peace and safety!”

But that was before

We knew.

 

Standing in the checkout line

At the reading of the law,

The law concerning those who buy,

Who bid and barter, buy and sell,

We took the mark

And bought the farm;

We cleaned the clock

And swallowed the camel.

We cried, “All clear!”

And cleared the deck.

We battened down the hatches.

 

We built the wall,

Secured the line,

Bolstered the brand,

Bettered the business;

Ate and drank,

Secured the bank,

Banked the profit

Lived and laughed.

 

We laughed and lived

And looked aside

And seized the long

Awaited prize

And so survived;

With foreheads to the fore,

And man against man against man,

While the dark stranger

Goes under the ban.

 

“And that’ll be

Ten and four and six

And six and six and six,”

And straw and mud for bricks

While the dark stranger

Goes under the ban.

 

So in the end,

Our purchased provender bought and bagged,

We bent and spent and went  

Each to his own way

In safety and in peace;

Backwards to the back,

Foreheads to the fore,

Never been here before.

 

Hoping to be spared

Tomorrow.