Fall on Their Swords

Dubious and murky,

what aligns all parties

Strike swifter, stealthier, neater.

Untraced conscience cleaner

But we're armed with an ethic,

so to speak

'Defence' and 'Ordnance'

as commodities

Satiate like food and drink

Prostrate in it

In it to win it

But we're armed with an ethic,

so to speak

Fall on their swords

Pragmatic in dissent

To curb the arms you circulated

Blacklists and short lists

Alternate them on grace and favour

At Barrel's end

there are no convention

We fall on their swords

Die, die, die, die, die