Neville
Chamberlain holding
the paper containing the resolution to commit to peaceful methods signed by
both Hitler and himself on his
return from Munich.
He is showing the piece of paper to a crowd at Heston Aerodrome on 30 September
1938. He said:
"...the settlement of the Czechoslovakian problem, which
has now been achieved is, in my view, only the prelude to a larger settlement
in which all Europe may find peace. This
morning I had another talk with the German Chancellor, Herr Hitler, and here is
the paper which bears his name upon it as well as mine (waves paper to the crowd -
receiving loud cheers and "Hear Hears"). Some of you, perhaps,
have already heard what it contains but I would just like to read it to you
...".
Later that day he stood outside Number 10
Downing Street and
again read from the document and concluded:
'"My good friends, for the second time in our history, a
British Prime Minister has returned from Germany
Shh!
Be silent now.
Let’s keep child’s quiet finger
firm upon our lips, shush now.
Let’s not say those worried words
we so long to say. Hush now!
Quiet! Stay silent now,
don’t utter worried thoughts
that bounce crazily inside
your head,
instead, be silent now and
watch the evil grow,
grow around and all about you,
all about you!
Tis safer than opening up that
can of worms,
worms that wriggle way out of
own accord.
We can’t afford to intervene
as we watch evil grow; instead
we only offer hollow idle threats
or lay sanctions (that don’t
matter) at the door.
Let’s talk around a table;
Appease! Appease! Appease!
What more in gods name can we
do?
We can do what we do best,
sit back and watch the evil
grow,
show worm our apparent
helplessness,
our inaction loading bullets, our
very self
shooting guns held towards our
very heads.
Shh!
Be silent now.
Let’s keep child’s quiet
finger
firm upon our lips, shush
now.
Let’s not say those worried
words
we so long to say. Hush now!
What else is happening in our
world
is not our problem, is it,
until it is.
Anna :o[
As said so often on this blog,
I worry, do so worry about this world of ours, worry most about that that is
humankind and the havoc we wreak on this beautiful planet. We are not safe keepers of it and don’t
deserve it.
What do we do in this very
tribal world of ours? We protect our tribe of course! We protect with the threat of our fine
arsenals and that of our military. Yet we tiptoe around as the world falls apart,
we watch evil grow as despots and dictators flourish. We really don’t want to get involved, it is
easier to turn our backs and cover our eyes and ears.
We watch as countries/nation
states turn on their own countrymen, those they deem inferior for they are the
wrong colour, wrong religion, wrong tribe or wrong caste and so on forever. And we watch…and do nothing or at the least
very little, maybe (preferring to exist in our ?safe little bubbles) raising
our voices, a little…
The peaceful of us suggest
negotiations/peace talks, but the sad fact is these ‘talks’ rarely bear
fruit. It seems that eventually battle
we must to achieve the safety we crave – war equals peace. Or does it?
How often have we invaded others for the sake of peace or to rid of despicable ills
(or to keep our ‘gains’) – but never
see it through, leave loose ends, so complacent we are, so smug, that we have
left our ideals there and all will be well.
(Remember Camp Bucca was probably the birthplace of Isis .) We leave a foreign land with a bleeding wound we
have created and the void is filled with another branch of hell. (And do remember some of us, the evil, those
barely human, crave battle.)
What do I think of Trump’s
sabre rattling? It worries the hell out
of me – but he has taken a stand (not very well thought out) towards/against North Korea ,
North Korea
How do I think we can heal our
world? Sadly, I don’t know…for how can we ever
change who or what we are?
Shared with the good folk at dVerse Open Link Night.
Image (and description of)
courtesy of: Wikimedia Commons
Author: Ministry of Information official
photographer.
13 comments:
It's hard to know what ought to be done for the best. Certainly with hindsight, what Chamberlain did was a crying shame. And many statesmen at the time thought so too.
Well thought out piece. I echo your concerns in the notes too. From here Trump seems just as crazy as Kim. All you can do is find your own Peace and stand your own ground. What will be will be.
Anna. I agree with everything you wrote. It's a 'pissing game' these men display. Look at those two! LOL! Silly men. But I think you are right: N.Korea's dictator is mad, insane, demented, suffering from Napoleon's Complex...and just...well, bent on starting a nuclear war. He's so young and a nutcase. Send in Dennis Rodman.
What can we do? We are poets. We can expose the insanity and Barbary of the world with our poems. I see poetry as part of an arsenal. We must and should.
Also, for peace's and the Earth's sake...plant gardens and trees, bushes, flowers...anything that can connect us with the earth. This is a cradle.
Your poem to me is a classic. It raises the things that need to be looked at. With a great dollop of compassion. Write more beautiful, thought provoking poems. Excellent. Jane (Lady Nyo)
I don't know what we can do either. Best wishes.
You make a good point about silence being as bad as terrible action.
Oh, Anna, I couldn't agree more with you and I worry and worry as well. That escalating rhetoric is really horrible and surely it can only be a matter of time before it is more than rhetoric.
That repetition of shushing sounds and words of course reminds us of the opposite: enforced silencing.
Thanks for commenting on my poem, Anna. I'm afraid WP did what it does very often—it disappeared your comment as I was replying. It's infuriating!!! Thanks a lot anyway :)
Oh dear, what is the world going into ~ I hate the lies and false bravado specially from Trump ~ I only hope something good will come out of all these negative events ~
I agree with the complexity you point out -- mad Islamic fundamentalists (of course 50% of Islam is laden with this), mad dictators in Africa and Korea, imperialist Russia and a new wave populism as an answer in the West of only 50% of its population. History will tell us, while most of us can only worry or wonder and the power players move the pieces. Complicated.
A very thought-provoking post. We are damned if we do something and damned if we don't. We are mere pawns in a bigger game. Like you, I worry where all this sabre-rattling will end. It's not even as if it is in one small corner of the world, but going on in several locations. Very scary.
Sometimes it is easier to wear one's blinkers, like the jittery favourite in a horse race. The one that would otherwise look hither and thither instead of focusing on the race ahead.
Yes, this is a scary time and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer. Tomorrow, Trump has scheduled a meeting with the entire Senate about the N. Korean situation. I'm glad that it sounds like he is seeking counsel, hopefully to achieve consensus and avoid anything too crazy.
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