poetry

LAST QUARTERAn incumbent oligarchy.780a. Jim can't retire. He's thirty four!He'll not make enough next yearTo pay his tax, and get his vote -To stab the caesarean Party.5 - SUPPORT and OPPOSITION781. How can Jim aid, help, supportA girl four hundred miles from him?Foster, sponsor, back, abet?Give manna in the wilderness?782. How can they ally, join hands,Cooperate, club togetherTo get her through her college courseWithout a grant to keep her.783. Must he consort, confer, colludeTo find a patron, friend at court?Is this how time has worked on him -On all who need support?784. Must he join cliques, clubs & circles,Belong to clannish social groups?Must he enrol or be invitedWithout a pedigree ....?785. How can he without connectionsIgnore the set, avoid the lodge?What hope has he in aiding wellA girl who needs his love?786. There are those in his wayWith bayonets crossed, daggers drawn.Yet, Jim’ll make his stand againstThe fiercest queen or pawn.787. Opponent, adversary, antagonist,Assailant ... rival on the field;Up in arms he’ll do his worstAnd advance like a fiend.788. Jim’ll kick against all the pricks,Put up a fight to frighten God!He’ll resist, repulse, rebuff,And stand on his tod!789. He’ll toss his glove into the ring,Pluck a beard, slap a face ...Raise his fist, bar his teeth,But take it at his pace.*790. Such ‘guerre a mort’, ‘a outance’Are struggles of the last ditch kind;Hand to hand, contention, strife,A free-for-all, knock-down, drag-out!791. Violence is an insane epidemic;A brain-bash wind-pipe slitting art;A feast of vultures; a waste of life;A by-product of the arts of peace.792. Violence is the art of bullies;The trade of traders in ideas ....It does not determine who is right:Victory goes to those who survive.793. Attack is for - the dogs let loose!Bloodhounds seeking out their game;The hunter stalking on his prey -Brought to bay, slain and eaten.794. Defence is for the ready primed,Those who beat the yelping curs -The hunted, shielded, armed and waitingFor the attack to begin.*795. Combatants, soldiers, warriors,veterans,Rookies, draftees, and plain regulars,Mounted troops, reserves on foot,Fleets of forces, flying or floating -317