On Government Policies

Cold and metallic, bitter on the tongue

Blind cruelty stalks the land.

Genial, smiling, blokey

And heartless as a bank vault:

Dollar-signs, false fears, and the tramping of the boots –

Jackboots marching, trampling tender shoots

Ripping kindness by the roots.

It is not cheap sentiment

To stand against the zeitgeist

To refrain from sloganeering

Ersatz comfort easy-bought.

Compassion costs the heart

Pierced through and nailed apart

With ancient nails.

Let us renounce all cruelty

Let us not dehumanise

In the kingdom of my Father

There is no us-and-them,

In the kingdom of my Father

We clutch Christ by the hem.

Let the little children come