Relate

How can I ever relate
when I'm secure, fed and free
to the threatened, hungry and desperate folk
who live across some sea?

I have never suffered pogroms
or seen bayonets in play
or had to decide which of my children
got a little food today.

And what of state rape of women
or Rwandan hands cut free
how does all of this affect
an Englishman like me?

Well, I am not innocent or untainted
for the guilt is just the same
if I prosper in my comfort when
my country invented the game.