History Class
Who wants to know about tyrant kings?
Suffering humanity, despots,
megalomaniacs?
Take your pick
Dull wars, costly reparations,
separated families,
famines, greed, fires
Why even learn
if we cannot profit?
We left it to the founders
to create something near perfect
“Let them burn,” we said,
“burn the midnight oil.”
We got what we wanted,
and for a while
followed it to a “T”
Pretty soon leaders
and followers
found
ways to loop around.
A little bit here, a bit there
who’s to notice?
We set precedents
and before long,
we tore the fabric
of ideals, forethought, and labor.
Why persist?
Civil war divides
then it unites
For a brief while
we are strong
shining like a beacon
in our unity.
We don’t go the full way
to sign, seal, and deliver.
A small crack
unaddressed
leads to a fissure
not repaired
leading to a
a yawning schism
and an unbridgeable
polarity.
Mass destruction shocks
genocide kills
we learn from it
vow not to repeat.
Yet, we forget
our promise not to repeat.
We forget what we learned
forget to pass it on.
You say parallel universe?
It’s right here.
It’s found in ignorance
in passing on the past
Parallel Universe?
A society divided, a country unbridged
a religion forgetting humanity.
It’s there in front of you
as you stand alone
with déjà-vu eyes.
It’s there in your solitary voice
reminding one of the past.
It’s there in the acceptance
of substandard choice.
It’s there
in collective,
apathetic
amnesia.
Parallelism
beats its chest
helplessly
watching
history
rreeppeeaattiinngg
in a single universe
It’s replete
with knowledge
no one cares to
hear,
or
wants to know,
or
cares to debate
an idea,
a thought,
a possibility
that
we
may
no
longer
have
a spoiled luxury
called
the
do-over.
xyz
abc
Cancel Culture
It makes every voice sound important
with sombre tones of judge and jury
Accuse, victimize, demoralize
cancel influence, cancel pride.
It starts with shaming
on platforms very public
It takes away power
influence, and
it hollows out dignity.
Cancel culture is wolf in sheep’s garb
of schadenfreude disguised as activism.
Viral at an unrivalled speed
Cancel culture nearly made it
It almost became the zeitgeist,
but the 2019 corona
got snapped up by COVID 19
For a moment, the clickety clacks
on the keyboard suddenly froze.
When the noise began again,
searches for pandemic, contagion,
virus, and vaccine went viral.
Canceling out disease
antibodies and antibiotics
became the chatter.
From work to social events,
everything has been cancelled.
widespread human panic
the world has been canceled.
Yet,amidst the doom and gloom
birds twitter, bees buzz
Flowers bloom in profusion.
but did anyone notice?
It’s easy to miss
amid missed events, frozen time,
confusion and mayhem.
Right as rain, she kept her word.
Yes, Spring honored the appointment,
by not subscribing to
cancel culture!
.
Boundaries
The swimmers love their lanes. “Boundary,” they say, “is necessary for everyone.”
The free flyers seem quite pleased.
“Civil liberties and all that, you know.” squawks one, amidst the buzz and fearless flits.
The others walk, run, and roam with abandon. “If this becomes a norm, we may end up actually liking boundaries,” they slowly concur.
The gondoliers are silent while the fish and dolphin swim in clear waters.
The birds are nonchalant. “It’s your turn now,” they shrug at people looking out beyond their window bars. “Stay in your cages.”
The deer walk with impunity. “I prefer dirt roads to these concrete ones,” says one.
“The two-legged ones, what were they thinking,” ponders another. “These are hard on my hooves.”
Somewhere, peacocks fan their feathers in peace. They shimmy and shake while in another part of the world turkeys trot with heads held high.
“We’ve canceled all appointments with the fertility doctor.”
“We have good news to share as well.”
"We too do!"
"Well, congratulations all around, and please hashtag that for a Wetoodo movement and check us in as well!"
The sea turtles have begun a breeding frenzy in beaches not dominated by a selfish breed.
At lunchtime in another continent, the king of the jungle says, “All animals are created equal, but some animals think they’re more equal than others.”
A kind hearted cub replies, “But, they are losing lives and liberty.”
“Then let them have boundaries,” decrees the queen.
Unauthorized freedom in the hands of the unwise is unjust to subjects in the animal kingdom.
“There’s fairness in the plains here,” says the king, leaving part of his prey for others to enjoy in the kingdom.
It seems special to spot animals in the cities. But for now, the new wanderers in concrete jungles feel that oppression is a thing of the past.
Someone pressed the pause button, and it shifted boundary lines. Was it the suffocating earth desperately reaching for the emergency button? It had to be done sooner than later. The earlier keepers without forethought misused freedom.
Whether you are within the boundary or basking in freedom, all creatures slowly realize this one thing. Losing family is hard.
Can it be inferred then that cruelty or kindness is subjective? A crown of thorns for some can be a crown of precious life for others. After all, it took only a microscopic virus to bring down the arrogance of the self-titled “highest order” in the food chain.
Price We Pay
Everything is what it is.
The price is what Man perceives
when he puts
greed over need.
He personified gold
but it’s just a metal;
impersonal, detached, and removed.
Midas lost her, his most precious
when his need succumbed to greed.
How much land does one need?
He ran first to
a homestead stake.
Surpassing need over greed,
and the idea to possess,
he ran like a man possessed.
When he outran himself,
he had to settle six feet
u
n
d
e
r
.
Bills in her mattress,
money in the bank
off shore accounts
to acquire, hoard, and block.
Financial pundits
ignore glaring fact.
Bills never circulate
in the hands of a few.
Greed transforms
the once glorious
dollar bill
to mere
toilet
paper.
Greed transforms
a man possessed
to biodegradable dust.
Greed barters
life’s warm breath
to shining, cold metal.
Greed
soils
Greed
spoils
Greed
uses
life
like
virgin
toilet
paper
over
and
over,
without
realizing
we’re
flushing
humanity
d
o
w
n
till
it’s
all
over.
Becoming Strangers
I just can’t be unknowing
with invisible yet showing
red flags and dangers
if we became strangers.
The thrill of that first touch
can’t really mean much.
Fumbling to discover
old habits, they never renew
We once knew each other.
When sweet nothings you whisper
my mind starts to slide a zipper.
It feels sort of, kind of tragic
there’s this shelf life to magic.
Smooth moves, hot knife to butter
they no more set heart aflutter.
I’m too much in the know,
you cannot set me aglow.
Is there potential to renew,
now that you’re stranger?
I fall back to remember,
the You I once so knew.
Just knowing what I know
it’s best just letting you go.
It’s closure, an epilog,
Or...
... should I be the dog,
that proverbial one in the manger?
Hanging on!
Surreal!
Like a bat
watching
standing up.
Yesterday,
unlike other days;
impersonal
goodbyes
Emotions
in quaratine.
Today,
invitation.
on Zoom,
new normal.
Attending
funeral
Surreal!
Like a bat
standing
but,
we’re upside n
w
o
d
The Hold
It’s not for the lily-livered. But, holding on takes grit, determination, and faith; in you, the other, and whatever you hold on to.
“She let herself go,” they say. Of course she did, she could have stayed for whatever she was fighting for. But, she took the easy way out. She let herself go.
Remember how long it took to build the bridge? Yet, it only took minutes to bomb it to smithereens.
Not everytime is it a bridge. Sometimes, you must cut your losses. You destroy to rebuild. Sometimes you must let go, so you can hold on- hold on to YOU!
The Wish
Stressful schedules, crazy commute
Loud voices
incessent noises.
If only the world had a button to mute.
If only I had a moment of solitude.
Be careful what you wish for,
it might come true...
the pandemic is at the door
don’t let it get to you.
If there’s one thing I know
it’s how little I know.
I built me a confining jail
only nature can post the bail.
Ender’s Game
It’s not that I want this ever.
As a matter fact, I’d never wish it.
The rarest gift coincidentally,
in human hands accidentally.
’Tis the kind to cherish forever,
Yet, we trash, drill, and plunder.
Rarest earth, precious creatures,
loot, pillage, and put asunder.
until left on earth are (in)humans,
the worst kind of leeches.
Just before humans toss the earth,
after juicing it with no care,
I’d like the Gaia take charge,
so she could again recharge
while on other foot shoe we wear.
For our neglect and crime,
It’s not that I want this ever.
As a matter fact, I’d never wish it.
Perhaps if we see our worth
in our created waste
post haste.
Briefest time I’d have no issue
we’re tossed like soiled tissue
Perhaps we’ll nurture and cherish
or perhaps we go back to squarish..
Will we ever learn
to truly our place earn?