THANKS A BUNCH

          (Dedicated to Rt. Hon. Geoffrey Hoon* )

I wandered lonely as a cloud
   That floats on high on desert wings,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
   A host, of golden plastic things,
Beside the square, beneath the trees,
Scattered along the Euphrates.

Continuous as the stars that shine
   And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
   Around the sands where children play:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Poised to destroy their sprightly dance.

The flags above them danced, but they
   Betrayed the banners of the 'free':
A Poet, unchoked, could not say
   How sickening was this company!
I gazed - and gazed - stunned by the thought
What miseries these clusters brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
   In bitter or in pensive mood,
They flashburn on that inward eye,
   Which is my only one still good;
And then my heart with sorrow fills,
That knows no sight of daffodils.

                    (Apologies to William Wordsworth)


*Hoon, questioned in the House of Commons about British reponsibility for the deaths of Iraqi children
killed by cluster bombs, said he was sure that, one day, the Iraqi people would be grateful.