Plus Ça Change

By luigi_pagano

Sun, 06 Dec 2015
  • 3900 reads
10 comments
 

Eagerly expecting an extensive expedition
engines roared on the tarmac, at Akrotiri,
in preparation for the attack on Raqqa.
Outside Parliament a crowd with placards
had demanded that we took no action.

The politicians, after a fierce debate,
overwhelming sanctioned the air raids
and the masses got no satisfaction.
Now the warplanes dash to degrade
and destroy extremists called Daesh
by cutting their oil supply that fuels hate.

Some believed this action to be unsound
and that a better solution was to have
a coalition of troops on the ground.
Others thought we should concentrate
on removing the head of the Syrian state.

But we have to remember the saying
"plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose"
which is a truth that we must all face:
for every dictator that we get rid of
there is another who’ll take his place.

© Luigi Pagano 2015

Certificate U
Poem
Mutevoli pensieri
Opinion
Inspiration Point (work that responds to our weekly writing cue)

Comments

Submitted by Bee on

Your poem expresses so well the lack of solutions and the truth at the end is frightening. 

Bee

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Dear Bee, the more I hear the word democracy the more the word tyrant comes to mind.
I admit that it is a cynical viewpoint but it has been known to happen.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by catherine poarch on

It's all so complicated. You are right about the dictators. What happens to people who get into power?

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Quite so, Catherine, a very complex situation with too many interested parties. As for people who get into power: they let power go to their head.

Regards, Luigi

 

Submitted by VeraClark on

It's a petrifying society and neatly put, Luigi.

 

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

It can't fail to affect, Ray, and impossible to ignore.

Luigi x

 

Submitted by loquaciousicity on

That's what's so good about our democracy... we get to vote for the dictator of our choice... any of the dictators which THEY put on the ballot...

BB used to mean Big Brother... now it means Big Business...

Super poem!!!

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

There is a lot of truth in what you say, Terry.
Big business does indeed rule the roost. Thanks for reading and commenting.

Luigi

 

Submitted by Alan Russell on

A sign of good art is when it stimulates a reaction,  Well done Luigi for encapsulating such a complex and multi-layered problem as the Middle East so succinctly.

There will always be 'interested parties' both in national and international politics that will always be pursuing their own self interests.  It is a human trait as old as humanity itself so I am not sure what the solution, if there is any, will be.

Alan

Ringwood

Great Britain

Submitted by luigi_pagano on

Alan, there doesn't seem to be a solution in sight nor do we know if anyone has a defined strategy to deal with the Middle East situation, which is not limited to Syria but extends well beyond its borders.
There have been several interventions in that region that haven't brought about stability. We have to ask ourselves if the democracy the West advocates is what the local population needs or wants. I can't pretend to have an answer  to the problem and can only offer a viewpoint.

Best wishes, Luigi