21st Century Brits

CUT FROM DIFFERENT CLOTH

My parents were born between the wars,
And in their day
People were cut from different cloth
A sturdy resilient cloth
A cloth that bound the nation together
They were tougher people
Who lived through tough times
The general strike, the depression
The Second World War
20 years of rationing
But life had greater value
Because its pleasures came hard
And life was more than a measure
Of what could be possessed
The post baby boomers
Roll their eyes at such talk
But our country is weaker
And its people
Less sturdy, less resilient
Today we are a ragged nation
Just a collection of frayed threads

THE SELFISH GENERATION

People are loyal only to themselves
They have no sense of nation today
And put their own self-interest first
“What’s in it for me” is what they say

People have many heartfelt opinions
But hardly a one true conviction
When England is once more in peril
This is my sad and sorry prediction

There will be no mass rush to volunteer
Conscription will be met with legal scheming
They only way to get them to join up
Will be to drag them kicking and screaming


ALL ABOUT RIGHTS

I was staggered with an item
On the news last night
About illegal downloads
And breach of copyright
One proposal is to block offender’s broadband
Which I thought was alright
But apparently this in itself is illegal
As broadband is now a human right
What has become of this country?
What brought us to our plight?
What about the Tolpuddle martyrs?
What of the suffragettes fight?
What of battle for equality
These are true issues of human right
If King Arthur returned to us
He would turn and take flight

THE BULLDOG BREED

The British in the past
Seemed to have more grit
The Londoners of old
Bombarded in the Blitz
Shook their fists in defiance
Such were the plucky Brits
People alive today
Would never stand for it
They’d shout about human rights
And probably serve a writ