Facebook Twitter Instagram
  • Home
  • About Us
  • Arts Hub
    • Architecture
    • Fiction
    • Films
    • Life Writing
    • Music
    • Poetry
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
  • Culture Hub
    • Clothing & Fashion
    • Cultural Commentary
    • Eating & Drinking
    • Education
    • Festivals/ Events
    • Religion
    • Science & Technology
    • Sport
    • TV, internet and other media
  • Contributors
  • Books
  • E-books
  • Support Us
0 0
Shopping cart (0)
Subtotal: £0.00

Checkout

Free delivery in the UK.

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Arts Hub
    • Architecture
    • Fiction
    • Films
    • Life Writing
    • Music
    • Poetry
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
  • Culture Hub
    • Clothing & Fashion
    • Cultural Commentary
    • Eating & Drinking
    • Education
    • Festivals/ Events
    • Religion
    • Science & Technology
    • Sport
    • TV, internet and other media
  • Contributors
  • Books
  • E-books
  • Support Us
Facebook Twitter Instagram
0 0
0 Shopping Cart
Shopping cart (0)
Subtotal: £0.00

Checkout

Free delivery in the UK.

Return to previous page
Home Blog Arts Hub

Epistle to a Tyrant

Epistle to a Tyrant

19 January 2026 /Posted byChristopher Norris
Post Views: 717

Image by Marco Verch, ccnull.de

By Christopher Norris

Is it being so powerful that thrills you,
Or the thought of those billions you’ve made,
Or the mountains of life-saving pills you
Can’t wait to deny Medicaid,

Or the sea-killing oil-slicks and spills you
Lay on to promote US trade,
Or the hundreds of federal bills you
Push through with your gangster-friends’ aid,

Or the firemen in Beverley Hills you
Told ‘climate-change? Sit in the shade!’,
Or the Midwest with its rolling-mills you
Shut down with your tariff crusade,

Or the migrants whose talents and skills you
Sent packing with your ICE brigade,
Or the Greenlanders sick to the gills you
Appalled with your mad-dog tirade,

Or the infantile hatred that fills you
Like a school-kid on Sports Day out-played,
Or the kid-soldiers fresh from their drills you
Sent South to bomb, kill and invade.

But the same will to act that instils you
With longings of subhuman grade
May instil the brave citizen who kills you
And thereby earns the world’s accolade.

Tags: Beverly Hills, Greenland, ICE, Immigration, International law, Mad, mad world, Medicaid, Midwest, Minneapolis, Nato, Starmer, Trump, Ukraine
Share Post
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • Mail to friend
  • Linkedin
  • Whatsapp
Our Culture: Our Code; AI, Cla...
Dual Purpose

About author

Avatar photo

About Author

Christopher Norris

Christopher Norris is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at the University of Cardiff. He is the author of more than thirty books on aspects of philosophy, politics, literature, the history of ideas, and music.

Other posts by Christopher Norris

Related posts

Arts Hub
Read more

No Joke

Posted byRuth Aylett
Post Views: 251 Palestine Action protest, 6 September – commons image By Ruth Aylett In tribute to Jon Farley: arrested at a silent Palestine protest... Continue reading
Arts Hub
Read more

THE CIRCULARITY IS HERE

Posted byNick Moss
Post Views: 58 Commons image By Nick Moss Ideas in a void have never appealed to me; action must follow thought or political life is... Continue reading
Arts Hub
Read more

Poetry as solidarity, clarity, ferocity and resistance: reviews of ‘Birdmen and Astronauts’ and ‘Face It’

Posted byNick Moss
Post Views: 84 Available here By Nick Moss There is a particular kind of leftwing poetry, that is all too at ease with its own... Continue reading
Arts Hub
Read more

He Came Bearing Gifts

Posted byBernadette Gallagher
Post Views: 95 Commons image By Bernadette Gallagher A United Ireland, with tariff-freeIrish whiskey to ‘sláinte’ freedom to.Policy changes on the 18th hole;with armoured cars,... Continue reading
Arts Hub
Read more

‘Sometimes Things Happen’ – Wedding Party Strike, 1st September 2026

Posted byViolet White
Post Views: 101 Photo: Wikicommons Sometimes Things Happen by Violet White “What I can say with 100% confidence is that unlike [Iran], the United States... Continue reading

Categories

  • About us
  • Architecture
  • Arts Hub
  • Clothing & Fashion
  • Cultural Commentary
  • Culture Hub
  • Eating & Drinking
  • Education
  • Festivals/ Events
  • Fiction
  • Films
  • Life Writing
  • Life Writing
  • Music
  • Poetry
  • Religion
  • Round-up
  • Science & Technology
  • Sport
  • The 1917 Russian Revolution
  • Theatre
  • TV, internet and other media
  • Visual Arts
Recent Popular

No Joke

17 September 2026 Comments Off on No Joke

THE CIRCULARITY IS HERE

17 September 2026 Comments Off on THE CIRCULARITY IS HERE

Poetry as solidarity, clarity, ferocity and resistance: ...

17 September 2026 Comments Off on Poetry as solidarity, clarity, ferocity and resistance: reviews of ‘Birdmen and Astronauts’ and ‘Face It’

He Came Bearing Gifts

14 September 2026 Comments Off on He Came Bearing Gifts

Contributors to Culture Matters

17 October 2017 Comments Off on Contributors to Culture Matters

The radical imagery of William Blake

2 March 2021 Comments Off on The radical imagery of William Blake

Music and Marxism

7 June 2016 Comments Off on Music and Marxism

About Us

23 December 2015 Comments Off on About Us

Tags Cloud

bbc Black Lives Matter Boris Johnson Brecht capitalism communism Covid19 Cultural democracy cultural struggle Donald Trump Fascism Gaza Gaza genocide Genocide in Gaza IDF Illegal war on Iran Iran Israel Israeli bombing Israeli war crimes jeremy corbyn Jesus Karl Marx Keir Starmer Marx marxism Miners' Strike Miners' Strike 1984 Netanyahu Netflix Nigel Farage Palestine Palestine Action poetry Reform UK refugees Rishi Sunak Russian Revolution Shakespeare Spanish Civil War Starmer Starvation in Gaza by Israel Trump Ukraine william morris

Search

Print

Sponsored by:

follow us on our Social Networks

Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube

Copyright © 2016 - 2026 Culture Matters Co-operative Ltd; FCA Registration No: 4347; Registered office: 30 Glenbrooke Terrace, Gateshead, NE9 6AJ. All rights reserved.

Home
Support Us
Books