The Mad King

They said that we should be silent
They said that it was their turn
They said that only they could fix the mess we made
We watched the world burn

They started to dismantle
They were viciously relentless
They culled our liberties. Our institutions under siege,
We became feckless

They closed their eyes as the mad king built his throne
We covered our hearts as they slowly turned to stone
They abandoned all pretences as our consciences grew numb
When it came time to change save the world we’d scatter and succumb

If only we were stronger
Or their ideas weren’t discordant
They built walls to hoard their gold, their stomachs full, our children cold
We found their avarice abhorrent

We tried to get them to reason
They had no reason to care
We explained how we could bring an end to all the suffering
They didn’t think it’d be fair