Statues of Limitations (aka Retrospective Action)
A “can of worms” these statues
They’re difficult for sure
Some like to tear them down
And render them obscure
Not afore they’ve done a dance
As if from Lord of the Flies
Fair enough – jubilation
At the end of ancient lies
But then again sometimes
We risk giving far-right
Defenders of indefensible
A chance to stand and fight
Swearing oaths of allegiance
Nazi salutes – a white lies tonic
They defend Winston Churchill
Nasty galoots – it’s quite ironic
For though Winston held views
That rightfully we now disdain
Historical perspective
Requires us to use our brain
For minds and hearts were different
So let us not accuse
With false equivalence
All of our ancestor’s views
We’re growing as a species
We stop go back and turn
Two steps forward and
One back is how we learn
So how to deal with statues
Do we just hurl rocks
Or leave them on their plinths
Inside a wooden box
Do we invoke our prejudice
On times gone by, far long
And make the same mistake
Muddling “evil” with “wrong”
For though it’s quite correct to say
Of obsolete thoughts, that grew once
Inside the minds of white schoolboys
“They’re wrong” – we must have nuance
We cannot bring the dead back
By trampling ancient graves
But we can stay our ignorance
From all that it enslaves
So maybe offensive statues
Should be put in museums
To gently gather dust
While still letting you see ‘em
So they can tell their stories
And we can mend our ways
So hear endeth the lesson
From our bygone yesterdays