Yesterday's terrorist
With political agility
Has the amazing habit
Often and frequently
Of being transformed
Into a freedom fighter;
And in time become
Whiter and whiter
So that by and by
He is very soon able
To join old enemies
At the banquet table.
And they all forget,
Beyond any doubt,
The dead and maimed,
As each dips his snout
Into the flowing trough.
Comes the time they can
By and by become
Revered elder statesman.