Pity All The Russians | peterspoetry

Pity All The Russians

Let's pity all the Russians
For what's wrought in their name
Putin he may have ordered it
But they all share the blame
For years they've let this one small man
Steal their democracy
There's none so blind, it's true to say,
As those who will not see
Fair elections he replaced
With ways to keep control
Those who would oppose him
They paid a heavy toll
In jail if they were lucky
Or poisoned if were not
And others they were disappeared
To some forsaken spot
Some were forced to exile
And had to look aghast
As the land of Glasnost
Was dragged back to its past
The nation's media throttled
Silenced was their fate
While TV news restricted
To puppets of the State
Information from abroad
Now swiftly labelled fake
As neighbour was invaded
Disputed land to take
Protests few and far between
Banned and firmly crushed
And Free World condemnation
Aside was swiftly brushed
Now Russians feel the sanctions
His war upon Ukraine
Has brought upon his people
But does he share their pain?
Their currency devalued
Their image in the mud
Russia now synonymous
With cities drenched in blood
They face decades as outcasts
It's difficult to see
How they will totally expunge
What stains their history
Ivan was the Terrible
And Stalin left his mark
Now Russians having glimpsed some light
Return to live in dark
But maybe it is easy
To say we'd show some fight
Our days are lived in freedom
Not under such State might
We can just hope that evil
Will never conquer all
Putin despite his usurped power
Must one day surely fall.