The practice of empire requires <br />An ancient birth mythology <br />A dominant warrior culture armed <br />By martial ideology <br /> <br />A broken captive underclass <br />Incited to celebrate violence <br />A cruelly competitive atmosphere <br />That reduces discourse to silence <br /> <br />Collaborators and raw recruits <br />Manning the overseas bases <br />Consultants on call to design and sell <br />Hearts-and-mind embraces <br /> <br />The finance of empire encompasses <br />Tax probes of remaining protestors <br />Fine dining at the palaces <br />For major corporate investors <br /> <br />The bidding of empire is carried out <br />By gangs of intimidators <br />Assassination of characters <br />Tarred as domestic traitors <br /> <br />Patriotic cheerleaders <br />Singing stars and shamans <br />Harmonize the party line <br />Inflating the foreign demons <br /> <br />The sanctity of empire calls <br />For the coffins to be shrouded <br />Smoke screen information keeps <br />The air of reason clouded <br /> <br />Multi-coloured holy rags <br />Religious benedictions <br />And news bites of selective facts <br />Mask the contradictions <br /> <br />Maintaining illusions fondly-held <br />That emperors of deception <br />Are hard at work for the common good <br />And rule for our protection.<br /><br />Frank Bana<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/empires-require/
