'A New Dream of Politics' by Ben Okri

British politician Jeremy Corbyn praised Nigerian author Ben Okri in his first major speech as Labour leader. In this poem, Ben Okri pens a powerful response.

A New Dream of Politics by Ben Okri

They say there is only one way for politics.That it looks with hard eyes at the hard worldAnd shapes it with a ruler’s edge,Measuring what is possible againstAcclaim, support, and votes.

They say there is only one way to dreamFor the people, to give them not what they needBut food for their fears.We measure the deeds of politiciansBy their time in power.

But in ancient times they had another way.They measured greatness by the goldOf contentment, by the enduring arts,The laughter at the hearths,The length of silence when the bardsTold of what was done by those whoHad the courage to make their landsHappy, away from war, spreading justiceAnd fostering health,The most precious of the artsOf governance.

But we live in times that have lostThis tough art of dreamingThe best for its people,Or so we are told by cynicsAnd doomsayers who see the endOf time in blood-red moons.

Always when least expected an unexpectedFigure rises when dreams here haveBecome like ashes. But when the lightIs woken in our hearts after the longSleep, they wonder if it is a fable.

Can we still seek the lost angelsOf our better natures?Can we still wish and willFor poverty’s death and a newer wayTo undo war, and find peace in the labyrinthOf the Middle East, and prosperityIn Africa as the true wayTo end the feared tide of immigration?

We dream of a new politicsThat will renew the worldUnder their weary suspicious gaze.There’s always a new way,A better way that’s not been tried before.

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