The Enemies We Face

They come with kindly faces,

They speak in soothing tone.

They promise peace and safety,

And leave the world a stone.

Stagnation binds the spirit,

Contempt makes striving vain.

And Power swells with yesterday

To forge tomorrow’s chain.

The rot sits clothed in velvet,

The cartel drinks its fill.

The expert writes in towers,

Yet never pays the bill.

The muzzle stills the speaking,

The silence shames the brave.

And fear, enthroned as wisdom,

Would make the strong a slave.

They sing a hymn of “Less is best,”

A hymn of loss and dearth.

They praise the cradle left at rest,

And the narrowing of earth.

See Socialism’s granaries bare,

Though fields lie rich and wide.

It starves the hand that labors,

And scorns the farmer’s pride.

Hear Doomerism’s prophets wail,

With ashes on their tongue;

They darken every morning,

And curse the yet-unyoung.

Feel Nihilism’s hollow laugh,

Where nothing holds its worth.

It sows the salt of meaning,

And sterilizes earth.

And Relativism whispers

That truth is but disguise.

It bends the straightest timber,

And blinds the clearest eyes.

See Dogmatism standing stiff,

With book and rule in hand.

It chains the mind to iron words,

And petrifies the land.

But Man was made for rivers wide,

For stars beyond the bars.

For seed to split the mountain’s side

And claim the sun and stars.

So face the foes with open eyes,

And scorn the chains they spin -

The water waits, the future calls:

Step up, step forth, step in.