Gone to Babylon

Another stab at poetry. This poem is simplistic and one-sided, and I like it that way. Patriotic poetry in wartime is no place for nuance.


Our boys have gone to Babylon
While we sit and watch TV.
Our boys have gone to Babylon
To save the world from tyranny.

To the Tigris they bring hope again,
While we lament the price of gas.
To the Tigris they bring hope again.
"How much longer will this last?"

Those men and women bold and brave,
These powdered politicians.
Those men and women bold and brave --
Who has the higher mission?

From hunting hooded murderers
With evil in their bones,
From hunting hooded murderers
We would seek to call them home?

Cadavers stuffed with dynamite,
Dumped in a busy street.
Cadavers stuffed with dynamite,
And we should lead the first retreat?

The Times slanders the President,
And CBS reports the toll.
The Times slanders the President --
Can we guess who shares their goal?

Our boys have gone to Babylon,
While the world frets and frowns.
Our boys have gone to Babylon,

That God may bless the trodden down,
The Horn of Plenty might be found,
And one day peace proclaimed all round.