The Great Dictator

“They are not people,” he sneers. “Just rabbits,

“Mice, kittens, puppies . . . fleas, insects — nothing!

“Irrelevant, not just stupid, reeking

“Of stupidity. Those dimwitted twits!”

“Yes sir, yes sir,” they cringe. “You’re right, you’re right.”

“I’ll make promises, huge, bold, grandiose,

“Extravagant! But, of course . . . otiose.”

“Yes sir, of course, we’re with you in your fight.”

In his tower, he plots and conspires

Forgetting that the strength in a temple

Lies deep in the beliefs of its people

And will outlive the fall of its spires.

And he? Voices, age-cracked and wine-mellow,

Might wheeze, “Yes, I remember that fellow.”

©Pandrang Row