Weeding Time

What with Senator Cory (Ban the Burqa) Bernardi inviting a certain seriously coiffed Dutch Islamophobe to come down and see him some time, and the emergence of the seriously confused sadsacks of the Australian Protectionist Party, who can find nothing better to do with their time than 'protect' a certain Israeli enterprise from BDS protesters, Peggy Seeger's Song of Choice* has never seemed more relevant:

Early every year the seeds are growing.
Unseen, unheard they lie beneath the ground.
Would you know before their leaves are showing
That with weeds all your garden will abound?

If you close your eyes, stop your ears,
Shut your mouth, then how can you know?
For seeds you cannot hear may not be there.
Seeds you cannot see may never grow.

In January you've still got the choice.
You can cut the weeds before they start to bud.
If you leave them to grow high, they'll silence your voice
And in December you may pay with your blood.

So close your eyes, stop your ears,
Shut your mouth and take it slow.
Let others take the lead and you bring up the rear
And later you can say you didn't know.

Every day another vulture takes flight.
There's another danger born every morning.
In the darkness of your blindness the beast will learn to bite.
How can you fight if you can't recognise a warning?

Today you may earn a living wage.
Tomorrow you may be on the dole.
Though there's millions going hungry you needn't disengage
For it's them, not you, that's fallen in the hole.

It's alright for you if you run with the pack.
It's alright if you agree with all they do.
If fascism is slowly climbing back,
It's not here yet so what's it got to do with you?

The weeds are all around us and they're growing.
It'll soon be too late for the knife.
If you leave them on the wind that around the world is blowing,
You may pay for your silence with your life.

So close your eyes, stop your ears,
Shut your mouth and never dare.
And if it happens here, they'll never come for you
Because they'll know you really didn't care.

[* My favourite version is the incomparable Dick Gaughan's.]