The Long Shadow of the Past.

The long shadows of the past reach out  

Filling our hearts with fear and doubt 

Holding the present hostage and to ransom

Like a child in the dark, terrified and lonesome

The bonfires rage, burning effigies of the pope

A call to arms, the antipathy of hope

The drumbeat roars like distant thunder 

Not an inch will we concede. No surrender

Slowly strangling the hopes of tomorrow

Igniting memories of tears and sorrow

Feeding the flame of bigotry and intolerance 

Tribal differences, hatred and ignorance

In the cold, grey morning light

Our dreams have vanished overnight

We are left with the ashes of despair 

The deafening silence and the ghosts of yesteryear

Betrayed by selfish men, their cold and calculating lies

Their callous minds manipulate, while the hope inside us dies

With distorted truths and disturbing philosophy

And their bitter and twisted ideology

Corrupted by their selfish plots and schemes

The lifeblood of our hopes and dreams

Washed away by the morning rain

And slowly trickles down the drain

The peace we fought for and thought had won

Shattered in pieces, our work undone

The peace we have striven so hard to earn 

Lessons from the past, will we ever learn.

Yet perhaps sanity will prevail 

Perhaps our efforts will not fail

And honest men will come to their senses

And rise up from their deepest trenches

Breaking down barriers and reach beyond the wall

To stand bravely, defiantly and tall

To face down the fear and intimidation

Enough is enough, we have reached our limitation

They say that Faith and Hope are blind

If that be true, then let the blind lead the blind.

Across borders and frontiers of the mind 

And together what wonder will we find.

C Denis Murphy 26 August 2019.