“The Night They Burned Shanghai” by Robert Abrahams. It tells of a couple driving to play Bridge with some of their friends. As they are en route they survey what is going on in the world. The luxury of playing Bridge is juxtaposed with various world tragedies. The poem ends with these arresting lines:
And after greetings, Waterman exclaims,
“A fine mess in the Far East, boys and girls,”
And we agree, and we sit down to play.
Tonight they burn Shanghai, and we are safe –
Safe from the world and all its puzzles – safe
From everything except our own contempt.
(Tonight Shanghai is burning,
And we are dying too.
What bomb more surely mortal
Than death inside of you?
For some men die by shrapnel,
And some go down in flames,
But most men perish inch by inch,
In play at little games.)
Paraphrase:
Tonight, Shanghai is burning
And I am dying too.
But there’s no death more certain
than death inside of you.
Some men die of shrapnel
while others go down in flames.
But most men die inch by inch
while playing at little games.
As quoted by Dr. Jerry Root in his YT video about Lewis TGD