Broken Nation - A Poem in Response to the Debate on Scottish Independence

A poem in response to the current debate on Scottish Independence.

Chas Stramash
http://chasstramash.wordpress.com/
Copyright © Chas Stramash 2012


BROKEN NATION

Scotland's fucked the nation's broken
the people mad with English token
the votes were counted, the people have spoken
Wallace and Roy, their spirits awoken

We needed somebody to stand up and lead
to stop this country's eternal nose bleed
to cut off the pipeline of Westminster's greed
Alex Salmond - our saviour, marching onward - God-speed

The only solution from behind those eyebrows
to be independent and run our own house
self-determination is a right that he vows;
the right to lift taxes and flow of natural endows

Through his passion he dispels a vision romantic
Scotland without England, alone in the Atlantic
but his long term plan is hidden by an ego gigantic
a danger to us all: Salmond the sycophantic

Don't get me wrong, I'm scottish one hundred percent
born near Paisley, I'm from nowhere near Kent
but if the union is broke then we should not vent
our anger through a vote; a referendum that's bent

So what if Paxman gets up your nose
or English commentators curl your toes
splitting the nation won't defeat your foes
in the end you'll find it'll only add to your woes

And what if in Grampian they start their own fight?
Salmond has always claimed it's "every people's right"
so they claim all the oil for a highland future bright
and leave us penniless, bankrupt overnight

Our ideas of being parochial and the eternal underdog
of being called a region not fit for a web travelogue
exist only in our mind; they're our own monologue
we're our own spokes, the oil, and the gears for our cogs

President Salmond would have you believe
in a future that's rosy, he's not out to deceive
but is there another way for us to achieve
a better future for all without being naive

We're at the mercy of one man driving it all
imposing his dream on us even if we free-fall
sure we have problems: homelessness and alcohol
independence won't fix that; it's not the be all and end all

Egotism and self-indulgent praise
won't lead you to the land of honey and hollandaise
and President Salmon with his passion ablaze
might he not guide us to ruin through anti-English cliches

Divided we fall, united we stand
in Britain we should be proud of the diversity at hand
in the countryside, the hills, and the cities grand
under one flag, Scotland, the UK, all our homeland

Copyright © Chas Stramash 2012

Chas Stramash is the pen-name used by Scottish crime writer, Colin Galbraith, for poetry publication.

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