Going Our Separate Ways

So long old buddy,
it's been a blast,
but time moves on
and yours has passed

quite clearly. Sad to
say those in the know
have vetoed you;
it's time to go.

You did your best.
You stood beside
brave men and women
who could have lied

but chose instead
to tell it straight,
take their chance,
resist their fate.

You knew Mandela,
Rosa too,
and Luther King,
inspired by you.

You put to shame
despots who tried
to take the whole world
for a ride.

But now the champion
of the western world,
so reckless with his
use of word,

imagines facts,
dilutes meaning,
subverts sense;
semantics reeling.

A great nation
thinks it's ok
to elect a leader
who speaks this way.

It's a sad time
the world is going through,
so goodbye Truth,
it was so good knowing you.

© Charlie Lambert

The death of truth: how we gave up on facts and ended up with Trump

Charlie Lambert is a former BBC sports correspondent who began writing poetry in 2016. He lives in Liverpool but is originally from Cumbria and his work is to feature in a new collection by Cumbrian poets, 'This Place I Know,' to be published by Handstand Press in the autumn.