This poem was written after seeing a picture of Stella Vine’s latest
public painting which was used as a backdrop for The Chapman Family’s Mima
performance. After seeing the rather gory and morbid subjects in the painting,
it felt important to me to capture this anti-war message into a poem. I hope
it will suffice well.
The last four lines were used in the painting and are a
lyric from the Chapman Family’s song ‘No More Tears’.You can see pictures of the painting on Stella Vine's facebook page here - https://www.facebook.com/stellavine#!/media/set/?set=a.427503997282952.103945.227602890606398&type=3
And if you are interested in The Chapman Family, here is their facebook page - https://www.facebook.com/TheChapmanFamily
We’ll interfere
When money is the reward,
Land, oil,
And all the world’s spoils.
We’re waiting for a hero
The one to end this war,
But this tyranny of greed
Is no comic-book flaw.
The reality is death
At the hands of political shibboleth.
“We’re sorry for such casualties
But, that’s war.
We’d compensate their families
But it’s really such a chore…”
Front page news:
‘Civilian casualties rise’
First it was the prisoners
But now it’s the children’s turn
-to live like flies.
And we’re too proud
And patriotically ignorant
To deem ourselves the ‘cause’
As we become ever more belligerent.
All wars have ended
We found the problem…
And now it has been mended.
All we needed was compassion
Instead of money, greed and fascism.
But who’s going to clean all the mess up?
We’ll tell the media it was charity
And government support
Of endless verity.
But deep down we’ll all know the truth,
It’s embedded in our culture
In our youth…
We listen to the papers
And the stories on the news
We want to feel human
But the media's our only muse
And all we can do
Is live our lives upside down
Where we can feel safe
Beneath this crown.
No More Lies
No More Fear
No More Hate
No More Tears
No More Lies
No More Fear
No More Hate
No More Tears
No More Lies
No More Fear
No More Hate
No More Tears
