Nineteen thirty-eight

A loud angry man shouts
To a loud angry crowd
While the others in fear
Are afraid to go out

Others daren’t come
For they hear the drums
Of hate and disdain
And of general glum

There are those who leave
Flee their country with grief
And look back as they go
To the things they’ve achieved

There are those who choose violence
Take arms in defiance
While the docile, gritted
March tenacious in silence

Democracy, they said
Autocracy, they bled
And it wasn’t before long
That a poster sign read:

« They are the bad ones
They are the mean ones
They are the thugs
Who’ll kill you and your sons »

The vengeful see
The sheep agree
The mighty pray
The weak plea

And in this conundrum
This dissonant strum
All this resentment
And all of this tension

On the other side
Of the border
I wonder

Is it 1938 again?