Greek lessons

First, democracy. Rule of the people.

No god-conferred divinity,

But the right to govern ourselves,

To fight for the here and now.

 

We understood how to make our voices heard.

A pin drop in the centre of the Parthenon

Could be heard from the back row.

The roar of our people echoes now across the continent.

 

Plundered by Rome, technology sank to the depths

A complexity of bronze in a watery tomb.

Clockwork mirroring the planets’ rush across the heavens

Poseidon kept his secrets well.

 

The  mechanism flew then to the Orient

Of Arab traders and trains of camels,

Algebra, algorithms, alchemy and

All-encompassing O.

 

Olympic Kings held a treaty of peace

So that the Games could begin.

Rivalries played out in sport rather than in war

What have two millennia taught us?

 

Do we really need Sonic the Hedgehog to protect London

Or VIPs ferried round on fantastic chariots,

While the rest of us sweat inside belching metal boxes

And the poor are banished to Stoke their fury?

 

No to the hired princelings,

The aristocracy of big business.

Put people power into action,

Bring this corrupt system down.

 

We can’t make the old mistakes again.

Let the trumpets of democracy

Blast their call across Europa.

We could do with some lessons in Greek.

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You can read some more of my poetry in ‘Little Red Poetry’. All proceeds go to build a new party for ordinary people, against cuts and privatisation. 

Copies are also available from Left Books

Tags: antikythera, greece, london, olympics, poetry