Departure

Sailor stands proudly
no shaking legs on deck today, as
Royal Navy vessels leave
old ports lined with waving family members.
Sailors and soldiers will do as told, bold
only in their execution of accepted duty.
Politicians and main-stage players
throw the dice around a trembling table,
hardly able to keep up the pretence
they usually know what they're doing
at all. Enthrall the puzzled crowds
with balming words of place of pride,
history and averted threats
to 'anything for a quiet life'.
Journalists rub their grubby hands
as foreign lands await their fate..