By trade and toil they built their might, the merchants of the East,
They smiled and sold, they lent and bought, their riches spread like yeast.
But war need not be cannon’s roar, nor steel that meets the chest,
A kingdom falls by silent means when poison does the rest.
The soldier need not load his gun, nor march upon the land,
For whispers work where weapons fail, as rulers stay their hand.
The poppy’s ghost, in powdered form, now seeps through every gate,
And men who once stood proud and strong now slumber in its fate.
No banners raised, no trumpets sound, no battle lines are drawn,
Yet towns lie bare and cities weep for sons who wake no dawn.
A thousand ships bring ruin’s dust, not cargoes bright with gold,
And still our leaders turn away, too timid to be bold.
The youth they fall, the mothers wail, the fathers curse the day,
Yet still the merchants ply their trade and ask their price in pay.
For conquest need not fire and steel when greed and rot suffice,
What need of war when leaders sell their people for a price?
So wake, ye men of sense and strength, let not your homeland fade!
A nation lost by silent war is one too late to save.
For battles lost can yet be won, but not when none resist,
When ruin wears a smiling face and strikes you with a kiss.
(By John Shenton)