Detail from one of my paintings.
The Sunday Whirl presented these twelve words for us to use in a creative writing piece.
shelter settle rose rocks edge step messy flesh left ghost scrap tremble
shelter settle rose rocks edge step messy flesh left ghost scrap tremble
Poets and Storytellers request that I write about my message to humanity.
The Wall
It shames me to say this—
I don’t care.
The world does not deserve my care.
◊
I look around me
At the messy, dirty, greedy world
That has little to commend it.
It makes me want to build a wall of rocks
To shelter me from it, protect me
From a world that daily appears
One step closer to the edge
Of oblivion.
◊
But I am not being fair—
The world itself is lovely:
Sunsets, roses, pines, the oceans,
Stream, birds, butterflies, wide steppes.
The feel of wind in my hair,
The touch of grass on my flesh…
The world, the earth, is a wondrous place.
◊
But what is left of it now?
Why can mankind not settle
For the beauty that it has inherited
From the ghosts of people past?
Does it have even a scrap
Of awareness of its responsibility
To the generations yet to come?
Alas, there is no sign that it does—
War, greed, arrogance, consumption, entitlement.
The edifice now trembles, wobbles;
Small stones fall here and there
As the structure flexes under stress.
◊
But I am beyond caring.
Nothing I say or think or do matters.
So, in tiredness, not anger—
I build my wall,
Rock by rock.
◊
It's a very grim situation.
ReplyDeleteRich piece. Resonant for anything thinking person but ironically, very hopeful in the way you built it up, rock by rock. One feels that the wall is not an artificial barrier but more a letting go of worldly cares while attention could be.......perhaps the next poem will be about the alternative to this earthly world?
ReplyDeleteI hear this. I've spent most of my life building such a wall around myself. and now, I'm doing my best to take it down, one rock at a time. it truly is a magical rock we live on, hurtling through space...too bad we're more like a cancer to it than gardeners and responsible custodians.
ReplyDeleteNice piece using Brenda's Sunday Whirl prompt. Thanks for commenting on mine.
ReplyDeleteThe world is lovely, so why oh why are some determined to ruin it? A timely piece indeed.
ReplyDeleteI may make the same decision!
ReplyDeleteI may make the same decision
ReplyDeleteOMG! How can one disagree with this deeply disillusioned piece? What mystifies me is that so many individuals do share the horror at what is happening and the wish to remedy it if at all possible, and yet the juggernaut grinds inexorably on.
ReplyDeleteIt's so tempting to build that wall. I can't stand the news and feel hopeless to effect change. Yet what happens if we all just bury our heads in the sand? This poem speaks to all of us. Most of us. How to care and remember that much worth saving still remains.
ReplyDeleteI like the rush of emotions in this piece. But we wake up in the morning with hope, we still trust this world to let our child go out alone, we still believe that majority of humans still have a heart that beats in unison.
ReplyDelete