Arresting Orator

Only walking sticks,
Nothing that might be construed offensive
Other than words, and then only because
Being stridently reasonable renders deaf
All with a stake in not being able to hear.
Such interest in profound silence of tongues
Wraps reason in barbed wire, crucifies words
Along rough cross members of watch towers,
Ends sentences with bullets as full stops.
Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear
Before there’s cold steel, keen enough to slice
Ears clean off. Or make precise incisions
To surgically remove the aggressive
Malignancy, diagnosed as likely
To devour the body politic. So,
The yeomanry, sabres drawn, intent on
Riding down veterans and civilians
While the magisterial from high up
In their vantage point, consider themselves
Justified in issuing the order,
Arresting orator, crowd being armed
Only with sticks.
                                            Dave Alton