Men, brother men, who, voiceless, round us fret,
How can ye credit still they are sincere?
This premier and his puppet cabinet,
This opposition, with its time-worn sneer
Of “outs” for “ins,” and both for those who peer
Behind the tawdry show and seek to clear
The fogs of falsehood, greed, and doubt and fear
Which shroud the clay feet of these mighty ones;
Men, there’s a task appointed for us here,
To set our house in order for our sons.
Bennett has said that ye are men untrained,
Unfit to judge who shall your rulers be;
It may be true, certain ye’ve little gained
Who gave the reins of power to such as he!
MacKenzie King has stated we will see
Revolt and bloodshed, should we strive to free
This land of Greed’s grim sordid mastery;
Why worry, King? — you’re good at dodging guns!
But let us waste no breath in mockery,
And set our house in order for our sons.
Men, brother men, about us here ye find
A world in thralldom to the priests of Gold;
Where greed takes tribute of all human-kind
And speech is stifled lest the truth be told;
A world where children starve by hearth-stones cold,
In which the crippled warrior and the old
Are robbed by pallid usurers, who hold
In pawn such plentitude for all as stuns
Our wildest concepts. Can we not make bold
To set our house in order for our sons?
Men, sons of ours, who after us shall live
And read our records on some musty page;
Scorn as ye may, and laugh your fill, but give
A sigh for those with chains for heritage;
If ye’ve ne’er known the bitter fight they wage,
If joy is yours in youth, and peace in age,
And useful labor is of worth the gauge
While Freedom hand in hand with Justice runs,
It is because your fathers did engage
To set their house in order for their sons.
ENVOY
Statesmen of straw, our lesson we have learned,
At weary last the patient worm has turned;
From coast to coast the swelling chorus runs–
“This out-worn rubbish were the better burned;
“We’ll set our house in order for our sons.”
(Burnett A. Ward)
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Based on Topics: Man Poems, World Poems, Joy & Excitement Poems, Youth Poems, Kings & Queens Poems, Gold Poems, Sons Poems, Power Poems, Truth Poems, Age Poems, Brothers PoemsBased on Keywords: gauge, human-kind, dodging, stuns, ins, time-worn, untrained, outs, premier, concepts, hearth-stones