Faith In Change

As a Socialist I have to have faith
in the sort of government I hope for.

I see so little proof of what I want to see
that hope is the only way to see it;
so little else exists to sustain me
in the long dark night of Capitalist rule.

But I know that socialism
is like non-violent action,
it has to be spurred to flower
by injustice. And when it flowers
it changes a lot more than the slight
that spurred it into being,
which as it is changed denies
the source that made it change.

Non-violent protest existed long before
it first got a name, in colonial India,
a century ago as a response
to a government so detached
that as it became more violent
and spoke of 'maintaining the peace'
it fail to recognise that the resistance to it,
was born of the distance between
it's actions and it's words.

According to half-reputable sources
there have been some sixty two
non-violent uprisings since Gandhi
gave the idea a name and foundation,
many of which are ongoing.     
some of which completed their task.

But all change,
even change for the better
is always temporary,
though change for the worse
often feels more fixed.