Tell me please, what did they see?

Those big boys in big phallic toys,

So far up there, where the lack of air,

Is filled with fumes from their rocket plumes,

What did they see?

 

They travelled for many miles, to see our earth, o so fragile,

To view the sprawling human race, for ten minutes in outer space.

Did they count the cost – was it worthwhile?

They could have saved their precious energy,

If they only had open eyes to see.

 

Did they see the things that I’ve seen?

Been to the places that I’ve been?

Have they felt the rolling tide so wide?

That churned my stomach deep inside,

On the sea of manmade inequity.

 

Did they see the people, passing who?

Passed the beggar with no shoe,

His foot turned up showing a gaping wound.

Would they think of things that might have been?

These are the things that I have seen.

 

Did they see the cripple squat on the floor?

His twisted frame, erect no more,

For pennies, his life now demeaned,

As with a brush he sweeps streets clean.

These are the things that I have seen.

 

Did they see the baby on the beach?

On a friendly shore, finally reached,

Here sea-soaked innocents met their death, and humanity sighed an indignant breath.

A shortened life of parents’ dreams.

These are the things that I have seen.

 

Did they see the fat man riding by?

On the back of a Sherpa, just five-foot high,

His laughing face made me want to cry.

He was raising funds - now that's obscene.

These are the things that I have seen.

 

Did they see the people stood en masse?

Refusing to let these things elapse,

Who gather strength and form a band, that in turn becomes a hand,

That cares for those in times of need.

These are the things I’ve gladly seen.

You can see more of my work here - https://grahamparkerpoetry.com/2021/10/02/what-did-they-see/