(The real nursery rhyme goes;
How many miles to Babylon?
Three score and ten.
Can I get there by candlelight?
Yes. There and back again.)
How many miles to Babylon?
The way is long and harsh, my son,
The road is winding, the going rough,
For many there is no return.
How many miles to Babylon?
As many as they let you go,
It is an ancient, alien land
What you'll meet there, who can know.
How many miles to Babylon?
Too many miles in a distant land
Where bombs and havoc rule the day
And bloodied limbs lie in the sand.
How many miles to Babylon?
The dead in heaps await their biers.
Against a tapestry of fire,
The rivers run with red- blood tears.
How many miles to Babylon?
Six by seven by three,
Only in your winding sheet
Will you come home to me.
Margery Rehman
http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/how-many-miles-to-babylon/
