The Child's Been Radicalised Poem by Barney Rooney

The Child's Been Radicalised

Rating: 4.7


They say the child's been radicalised
impregnated before their very eyes
a neat incision implanted with precision
blind stitched the cleft between truth and lies

How else could someone so young know
that a fire for justice would grow
beyond the need for wisdom or restraint
beyond fear or doubt or calculation
beyond the calming voice of reason
beyond the thought of treason
beyond the care if common people bleed
to concede the claims to lead
of men who play at being small pack gods
inducting them to suffer for the cause
in the hellfire spat from heaven
offer them in that blackened plume
of oil smoke and buckled burning steel
where life is pared of fripperies
barren as the landscape

They say 'radicalised' - a careful smear
the very quest to comprehend is now despised
on either side
a crime made of that last thread of virtue
before hope calls it a day
compassion gives way to the fiction
that holy truth is deemed to be
that which cannot cope with contradiction
when hands no longer scrape at barren soil
to find their roots
and humble people resign
to being trodden underfoot
and cannot rise
without the means of being radicalised

De-radicalise?
exactly how, and what should be excised
what charm or incantation?
a garlic infused stake driven through the heart?
water boarded incarceration?
a shaft of sunlight risen in the east
to lead the child back to the feast
to consume or be consumed by the greater beast?

Thursday, October 30, 2014
Topic(s) of this poem: war
COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Darwin Henry Beuning 31 August 2015

Very dark, but, painfully true.

48 0 Reply
Kumarmani Mahakul 08 April 2015

Wonderful poem shared on war topic. Well drafted and shared such a thought provoking poem. Nice job done.

21 0 Reply
Roseann Shawiak 26 July 2015

Thought provoking and intense poem, well thought out and clearly stated. Thank you for sharing. RoseAnn

21 0 Reply
Kelly Kurt 08 April 2015

An intelligent, well written poem, Barney. Thanks for sharing. Peace

18 0 Reply
Kim Barney 04 March 2021

I have read this poem a few times before, but this is the first time I have listened to your reading of it. That makes it so much better! This now goes to my favorite poem list!

3 0 Reply
Prabir Gayen 21 March 2019

De-radicalise? exactly how, and what should be excised what charm or incantation? a garlic infused stake driven through the heart? water boarded incarceration? a shaft of sunlight risen in the east to lead the child back to the feast to consume or be consumed by the greater beast? .......beau beaut poem///

48 0 Reply

Prabir, Barney is a favorite poet of mine and this poem I consider his best! ! ! I listen to it often.

9 0
Lungelo S Mbuyazi 18 May 2018

How else could someone so you know That a fire for justice would grow Beyond the need for wisdom or restraint... ...well done for such a powerful poem....stay blessed You may like reading my poems Vibrant Love, and Let Love Love Us All...Thanks

16 0 Reply
Feipeng Shang 03 November 2017

The war on terror: to consume or be consumed by the devil beast? ......thought provoking, like this.

14 0 Reply
Kim Barney 13 February 2016

I was referred to this poem by Hank Beuning, and I must say I was not disappointed. Well done. Thank you, Barney and Hank!

30 0 Reply
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