One Country Not Two

And so as I patrol in the valley of the shadow of the tricolour I must fear evil ,for I am a mortal and mortals can only die.
Asking questions,pleading answers from the nameless faceless watchers that stalk the carpeted corridors of Whitehall.
Who orders desecration,mutilation,verbal masturbation in the guarded bureaucratic wombs
Minister,minister care for your children,order them not into damnation to eliminate those who trespass against you
For who's is the kingdom,the power,the glory forever and ever,Amen,halt who goes there?
Death.......approach friend..................
You're just another coffin on it's way down the emerald isle where the children's stony glances mourn your death in a terrorist smile
The bombers arm place fiery gifts on the supermarket shelves,allys sing w/ shrapnel detonate a temporary hell
Forgotten sons
From the dole queue to the regiment a profession in a flash, but remember Monday signings when from door to door you dash
On the news a nation mourns you unknown soldiers count the cost,for a second you'll be famous but labelled posthumous
Forgotten sons,forgotten sons
Peace on earth and mercy mild,Mother Brown has lost her child,just another forgotten son.

Forgotten Sons-Marillion

Originally I was planning to use the Stiff Little Fingers lyrics to"Harp"hence the picture however I realized I'd used them b4 so my back up plan was "Forgotten Sons" by Marillion as it dealt w/ Northern Ireland a subject that was hard to escape from 30 years ago.

W/ unemployment at an all time high a career in the Army seemed like a way out,however you just knew your first "tour of duty" would be in Belfast and suddenly the dole queue didn't seem so bad after all period but if you were like me born in England to Irish parents that was a double whammy,there's just no way could've gone there.

I did visit Northern Ireland for a week in the mid 80s and spent a day in Belfast,it was like any major city on the British mainland....except for the checkpoints on main streets and the fact somebody waved a metal detector wand over you at every store entrance,even outside of Belfast in Armagh the presence of the British Army in uniform and armed w/ their rifles made you realize"we're not in Kansas anymore"

I for one was delighted in 1988 when the Good Friday peace treaty was signed and ended years of sectarian violence that existed between two sides who in truth probably didn't know why they were fighting each other and told to hate one another,my friend Volkan who's a Turk told me he didn't agree w/ his Grandfather and Father who grew up at odds w/ the Greeks,as Volkan said "that's their fight,"I didn't grow up fighting the Greeks or hating them and that's where the new generation of Northern Ireland found themselves,they didn't hate the other side,and didn't know why they hated them other than being told for years to dislike and distrust them.

And yes I know there are those who would like to see a united Ireland but I think that's unlikely,Michael Collins couldn't get it he he was one of the country's favourite sons so for now let's settle for a peaceful Ireland and embrace the peace,long may it continue.