Thoughts on Pen Farthing
An ex-marine became a household name,
As the soldiers left, the cargo plane came,
And Pen Farthing, animal rescuer,
Was left with options, fewer and fewer.
As I understand, Pen Farthing was told,
His dogs and cats were allowed in the hold,
But his staff must stay in Afghanistan;
And so they were left with the Taliban.
Now there’s a commotion, media stirred,
Suggesting that cats and dogs are preferred
To human beings, when push comes to shove;
It’s animals more than people they love.
“They”, being those who crowdfunded the plane,
And even Farthing,
who fought to obtain
Permission to leave, but none could be had
For Afghan children, nor staff of Nowzad.
And speaking of the staff, I also read,
They lent a hand when he haplessly led
His charges to the hold, as Kabul fell
To a Taliban, and terrorist hell.
So, where are we now? It seems we’re still split:
Many deem Farthing a heroic Brit,
And equally, many take a dim view:
He should have taken his staff when he flew.
Personally, I’m on the side of Pen:
He TRIED to take all the women and men
And he TRIED again; what more could he do?
As US drones killed and ISIS bombs blew?
And in case I appear subjective here;
To reiterate: it seems pretty clear;
The Taliban, having the final say,
His staff and their families had to stay.
Now, as the last western soldier departs,
The pointing and the condemnation starts,
And the lies, leaders would have us believe
About all the goals they failed to achieve.
The Taliban, Biden, Johnson, et al,
Add them all up and it’s one epic fail
And if you get mad, as maybe you should,
Don’t blame Pen Farthing;
He did all he could.
