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Poetry

The Battle

by Laura Birnbaum

In a glade, where old trees sway,
Four foes met one fateful day:
Two were sure of no divine essence,
But could not agree on the consequence;
Two others believed in a world beyond,
But their morality could not correspond.

Nietzsche’s Nutkin twirled an acorn spear,
It proclaimed ‘God had disappeared’.
Eager to defend the scientific critique.
Hoarding nuts, evolution’s selfish streak,
Void of faith, it jabbed in absurd dance,
A lonely beast that relied on chance.

From the shadows Parmenides’ puss came,
Whiskers twitching, it yowled a refrain,
That spoke of nine lives. Metaphysical existence?
Confusing the squirrel with intangible resistance.
Puss lashed out with unity of being,
Unchanging, imperishable, and never no-thing.

Entered Anscombe’s ants, so many, so small,
Completely convinced in a great purpose for all.
To the heavens above, they lifted their gaze,
Antennae quivering in hymns of praise.
Together they marched, an organised force,
Absolute morality kept them on course.

Russell’s Rabbit pushed in with a shove,
Muttering “all you need is knowledge and love.”
With every bound and each twist in the air,
The rabbit found new morals beyond compare.
The others could not land a blow:
Subjective defences ebbed and flowed.

In a glade, where old trees sway,
Four foes perished that fateful day.
Moral fibres rotting into putrid dirt.
Compressed into history, thick with hurt.
The cosmos hosts this constant war,
All seeking to be good, really wanting more.

Laura Birnbaum studied at Oxford, works for the Fire Brigade and has opened a coaching service at quandarycoaching.com.