I rarely write overtly political poems, and this one is only very mildly political, but I had this nagging feeling of 'I've felt this way before:'

It occured to me as I was listening to the White Album in my car that the feelings I had about the early Beatles especially - their naivité, their 'can do' approach to making new music reminded me of the early days of this government. For a brief while I was close to someone who was on the outer fringes of govenment, and even at that remove there was the sense she could contribute - did contribute - to the education and child nutrition debate in her case. A sense that there were teams of clever people drawn from different backgrounds from the usual elite, who were reinventing the way things were done. But time took its toll, and they're no longer young and uncorrupted - just infallible, it seems.

Like The Beatles

The difference is, the Beatles songs play on,
their words and music there at our behest;
inventive, though that innocence is gone,
as though preserved forever at their best.

Compare to you - career-wise you'd the same:
a decade's run from infant to old age,
but whereas you were strong and now are lame,
their wisdom grew from innocent to sage.

I liked your innovation, your 'can do'
enjoyed the sense that anyone could play;
I loved the thought of getting close to you
and maybe being listened to one day.

I liked the openness, the sense of teams,
the thought of all those clever minds at work,
and how refreshing all that talk of dreams!
And who'd begrudge one tiny little perk?

But that was in the days before the war,
the days before invincibility,
before your failing judgement, and before
an ancient Beatles song reminded me...

Well, how unfair! As anyone can see,
they'd little more than instincts at the start,
to trump your education. But, to me
the difference is that they still play a part.

While threefold education's now passé
the difference is, the Beatles songs still play.

Roy