Before the Terror Comes the Tyranny

A large guillotine .

Hear me read
the poem as
an MP3 file.

Watch me read
the poem as
an MP4 file.

Music:
Chariots of War.
By Aakash Gandhi.
Music free to use
at YouTube. Illustration credit: AI.

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Before the terror comes the tyranny.
A bloodstained flower has roots in bloodstained soil.
Some would steal the fruit of others' toil,
Then claim it as a right of property.
In revolutions, though, if chaos reigns,
Legitimacy is lost, and many will
Look back with less distaste at former ill,
Eager more for order than for gains.
Days of terror yield dictators new,
As the many yield power to the few,
Yearning for the clarity of chains.

Copyright by Nicholas Gordon. Free for personal or non-commercial use.

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