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Home Blog Arts Hub

Epistle to a Tyrant

Epistle to a Tyrant

19 January 2026 /Posted byChristopher Norris
Post Views: 373

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
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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.

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