It's been there all week...an undercurrent of urgency, despair and crisis.  It's been hard to think that the minutiae of my day to day tasks matter in the face of unspeakable horrors happening for folks who are just trying to find safe spaces.  It's been challenging to temper my desire to help/donate/contribute in some way with the fact that there are also folks close to home who are in urgent need of support. So...I've 'liked' pages on Facebook, I've signed online petitions, I've donated clothing and food for organisations local and abroad.

But it's still been there all week...this undercurrent of urgency, despair and crisis.  And so, as I do, I wrote my way through what's been on my mind, particularly in light of political responses to the crisis.  A political poetic mirror, perhaps?

Political Will - By Rose Condo

It is as though a child is before him

Choking gasping grasping at his sleeve

Her child eyes they plead

“Help…help me now”

And he responds:

“We must first examine the density of the food she ate

And then regulate manufacturing

To prevent this thing from happening again

We must first solve this problem at its core”

By which point his point matters no more

Despite his convicted cries

Meanwhile before him she dies

 

It is as though a family is before him

Trapped in a house on fire

From a second story window they burn

Smoke billows flames churn

Barely alive their voices cry

“Help…help us now”

And he responds:

“We must first seek out the cause of this fire

To prevent this dire thing from happening again

We must first solve this problem at its core”

By which point his point matters no more

Despite his convicted cries

Meanwhile before him the family dies

 

And so a nation is before him

A desperate situation is before him

People of all ages crossing borders we humans created

So dedicated to seeking a better life

So dedicated to seeking basic human rights

That they leave homes and horrors behind

And we find their bodies washed up on shores

While scores more scale fences of razor wire

Erected by those elected

Claiming they’ve protected border lines in the sand

Infected with the folly that they in fact own their patch of land

And we seeing need for compassion and understanding

Rally our voices demanding

“Help…help them now”

And he responds:

“We must first seek out the cause of this crisis at its core”

How soon will come the point when his point matters no more

 

I've posted the poem on YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zi57NnUUOFs.  Please take a moment to watch and share.