Posted by Chengde Chen *
In Mourning for Future Dianas
But has also become crazy,
Kindling its love for the Princess
To burn the media that created her!
The sword of privacy law legislation
Is being sharpened with the mourning ...
If it does kill the birds of intrusion
Who else will be victimised by the slaying?
Wasn’t it those countless stories and pictures,
Digested with English breakfasts and dinners,
That constructed a ‘Queen’ in people’s hearts
– A ‘close friend’ felt by many many strangers
Who decorated Kensington Palace
With millions of flowers?
Oh, the millions of flowers ...
Are they criminal evidence against the media
Or public awards for its unprecedented success?
Enjoying the honey but condemning the bee
Adoring the river but detesting the rain
This nation is also ‘three times over the limit’
On this side of the Channel
Killing future Dianas to mourn the lost one!
Britain, don’t you want another Diana?
A great mourning may be timeless
But the tears for mourning the past
Won’t dry into logic for mourning the future!
* Chengde Chen is the author of Five Themes of Today, Open Gate Press, London. chengde@sipgroup.com
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| ‘Britain, don’t you want another Diana?’ |
In Mourning for Future Dianas
Written some years back, but strangely prescient ...
Britain has not only become ugly
Since losing its beautyBritain has not only become ugly
But has also become crazy,
Kindling its love for the Princess
To burn the media that created her!
The sword of privacy law legislation
Is being sharpened with the mourning ...
If it does kill the birds of intrusion
Who else will be victimised by the slaying?
Wasn’t it those countless stories and pictures,
Digested with English breakfasts and dinners,
That constructed a ‘Queen’ in people’s hearts
– A ‘close friend’ felt by many many strangers
Who decorated Kensington Palace
With millions of flowers?
Oh, the millions of flowers ...
Are they criminal evidence against the media
Or public awards for its unprecedented success?
Enjoying the honey but condemning the bee
Adoring the river but detesting the rain
This nation is also ‘three times over the limit’
On this side of the Channel
Killing future Dianas to mourn the lost one!
Britain, don’t you want another Diana?
A great mourning may be timeless
But the tears for mourning the past
Won’t dry into logic for mourning the future!
* Chengde Chen is the author of Five Themes of Today, Open Gate Press, London. chengde@sipgroup.com
2 comments:
A perceptive poem, I think. It reminds me of a classic Good Friday prayer in the liturgy: ‘O God of mercy, in shame we call to mind the evils of the world which brought the Lord of Glory to humiliation [and so on, and then a twist at the end] ... The sins and follies of men like ourselves.’
Thanks Thomas. The payer is powerful with humility.
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