Man With a Stick

Old man checks his rear view mirror, wispy hair, familiar eyes
 Journeys alone, unsure of the exit,
 Straddling lanes his signals ignored
 Deaf to the horns, blind to the anger,
 Stalled in the traffic of a fast moving world
 The Man with a stick
 Long rod dipping fishing hollows, short sword slays the ranks of weeds
 Bat of ash on the edge of a diamond
 The kiss of willow before tumbling bails
 Rock n'roll snares,
 Cheerleading batons, the pencil scratches on an empty page
 A pointer raps on a cloudy blackboard,
 A cane taps time on an outstretched palm
 Learning the lessons,
 Reciting the mantra that sparing the rod is spoiling the child
 Says a man with a stick,
 Watch the man with the stick, the man with the stick
 And you force back the tears;
 Stand in the corner listening to the sniggering of so called friends
 Hold the pain in a fist, stare back in defiance,
 And vow to yourself that they won't hit you again
 Stifled your hate,
 Channelled the anger, snuck in the system and bided your time
 You tightened your lip,
 Accepted the beatings and they measured
 You up for a uniform, you fitted the uniform
 Then they gave you a stick.
 A Knobkerrie and a bloodied shillelagh
 In calloused hands take the lions down
 Pick axe hafts and hickory truncheons
 Cracking the skulls on the picket lines
 Bamboo staffs and sjambok switches,
 Cudgels bludgeoning hearts and minds
 Clearing the streets of a burning
 Township, scattering crowds from a city square
 Herding the queues of the weak and the hungry,
 Testing the will of the few who dare face the man with the stick
 You dealt out the blows following
 Orders, the questions were left for another time
 You held it inside;
 Absolving your conscience laid all the blame on the 'powers that be'
 You gave them your all,
 Got a watch and a bungalow, mothballed the uniform and faded away
 Lost all you loved, withered and vulnerable,
 Abandoned your car at the side of the road
 At the end of the road, your fate unavoidable
 The son becomes the man
 The man with a stick, a man with a stick.
 Old man follows cracks in the
 Pavements, leans weary at the end of days
 Unsteady, checking his balance shuffles along on his lonely trail
 The man with a stick