Damn the Tyrant

 

Brethren, what moved them?
Mother Freedom? Father God?
What drove these gentle souls
To face the wrath and take the rod?

Tyrants, what moved them?
Lust for Power? Lust for Greed?
What drove these evil men
To make the Brethren bleed?

Brethren, strong in Peace
Refusing to make war,
Tyrants, strong in Power,
Armed with might who drove them forth

Through the land, across the Sea’s
They passed with death & tears,
To worship, on their knees,
The God they held so dear

While God, in hallowed chambers
Wept to see them flee,
He led them to a nation,
To forge the hope of free…men

Pagan’s, holding fast
To the teachings of their Kin,
They too fell as victims,
To the wrath of Tyrant’s whims

There around the fire
Beneath a sacred moon,
Defying Papal Ire,
They worshiped to their doom

The stake preserved for all
Who dared defy the Pope,
While God, in hallowed chambers,
Wept while Tyrants cloaked…

Themselves..in His name…

And far on distant shores
Other Children prayed,
Adoring their Creator,
In innocence arrayed

The Cherokee, the Sioux
The Seminole and Creek,
All sought the voice of God,
And heard when he did speak

Then Tyrant’s, once again
Did come to bar the door,
Where children played in laughter,
Midst mighty men of war

Once more they raised their standard
And in the name of “God”,
Raped and crushed the people,
And spared them not the rod

While God, in hallowed chambers
Wept to see them plundered,
The “righteous” stood applauding,
When God’s children were outnumbered

Decades came and passed
And once more evil raged,
For millions in it’s path,
Were murdered, burned and caged

Hitler and his armies
Slew the many as they prayed,
For naught could save them then,
While evil stood arrayed…in power

While God, in hallowed chambers
Wept to see them slain,
While good men bore His standard,
And freed them once again

Utopia? Fair dream
For the poet, for the fool,
For still the Tyrant stalks,
And dares to forge the rules

Let each soul seize his freedom
And hold it to his breast,
Cherish it as gold,
Defend it as a guest

For Tyrants, they will come
Once more to rape the free,
Where children play in safety,
And mothers bend their knee

Remember now the Brethren
The Pagan, Red and White,
Remember Hitler’s armies,
Prepare to stand and fight

While God, in hallowed chambers
Will weep to see it so,
He’ll not forsake the righteous,
When evil mocks their soul

Adorn thyself with Liberty
Bedeck thyself in truth,
Preserve your freedom, Valliant’s,
For Evil stalks your youth

 Stand, declare your freedom
When darkness takes the land,
For God, in hallowed chambers,
Will sanction your great stand!

 

©Kathleen MacLintock

Authors note: “Damn the Tyrant” is a statement against tyranny in all forms, but particularly religious persecution.  References to the “Brethren” at the begining and end of this poem, refer to thousands of European Mennonite Brethren who fled religious persecution by the Roman Catholic church in the 1700′s, only to arrive in the fledgling colonies of America, free at last to practice their faith.  Before arriving in America, many were imprisoned, exiled, sold into slavery, or executed.

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