Fall on Their Swords

Dubious and murky
What aligns all parties
Strike swifter, stealthier, nearer
Untraced conscience cleaner
But we’re armed
With an ethic
So to speak
'Defence' and 'Ordnance'
As commodities
Satiate like food and drink
Prostrate in it
In it to win it
But we’re armed
With an ethic
So to speak
Fall on their swords
Pragmatic in dissent
To curb the arms you circulated
Blacklists and shortlists
Alternate them on grace and favour
At Barrel’s end
There are no conventions
We fall on their swords
Die, die, die, die, die