Safe, smug little world

Safe, smug little world (14th May 2008, 12.58pm)

Here we sit, Saturday night
Takeaway curry, putting the world to rights
We have paid our taxes,
Shopped in charity shops,
Put pennies in tins on counters,
Filled up the church collection box;
We have purged ourselves of societal sins;
We are the innocents where it all begins.
Here we sit, bottle of wine,
Couple of beers, wasting time,
Idling on a tour of conversation
In which we dissect our own great nation,
Stopping by the rest of the world,
Saluting the flags as they unfurl
Listen as criticism equals witticism
As the glasses empty and the stomachs fill up.
Here we sit, as the candles burn
We know it all but we have not learned,
Watch as we argue, safe in our living rooms
As the CDs scratch out favourite tunes
And as we talk, worlds collide.