Militant

by John Short

If he surrendered now
how would he fill the void?
Never the kind to retire
round glittering pools,
world injustice keeps him
permanently afloat.

I chanced upon him yesterday
with a megaphone.
He’s looking older but
his comrades stay the same age,
they carry banners a while
but eventually lose zeal.

I asked after his wife, who fled
from a country whose
dissident voices were crushed
by fuming violence:
rage at refusal to be silent.

I wonder how it feels
to know all the dark statistics
and parade them
through a sea of apathy
down the parasitic high street
refusing to give up -
still hoping to change the world.