They are ours

by keith jeffries

Monday 7th August 2017 11:30 pm

They are ours

A disquieted soul

of tragic images

as rain falls steadily

I am saturated

with a universal pain

a burden immovable

a weight overwhelming

Scenes of suffering

broken bodies

of our people

buried alive or

pulled from wreckage

of swollen bellies

gaunt expressions

sheer hopelesness

I cannot turn aside

ignore or pretend

As I sip wine

they rummage for food

As I sleep in comfort

many are tortured

My inactivity is cancerous

anesthestised by the media

Their world is not mine

yet I care - why?

My comforts make me

umcomfortable

My blessings a curse

Should I foresake all

go to their aid?

How, with what?

I am outraged angered

by human inertia

the care less or those

who don´t care at all

My wound wont heal

a soul that aches

because we are one

and the same

separated not by distance

but by self

Comments

keith jeffries

Tue 8th Aug 2017 15:34

Stu, Thank you for your comments. You sum up our plight in the face of others whose plight is far worse. It is indeed a dilema. Keith

Stu Buck

Tue 8th Aug 2017 15:04

i think this poem accurately reflects the feelings many of us have, of helplessness, selfishness and, perhaps worst of all, numbness to the plight of millions worse off than us. a thought provoking piece, well written as always

keith jeffries

Tue 8th Aug 2017 12:57

Colin, Thank you indeed for this well informed response. You are right in all you say, regrettably. 663 million people in the world lack access to safe water and 2.4 billion lack access to a toilet. And Scotland and Catalan want independence. My God!. Thanks again. Keith

<Deleted User> (13762)

Tue 8th Aug 2017 08:34

as global citizens it seems we have become somewhat impotent to the needs of others and can only help by placing our trust and money into the hands of aid agencies and governments, the latter of which seem perpetually incapable of effecting any meaningful and lasting change.

as a volunteer for an 'aid' charity working in Africa I could talk endlessly about the pros and cons of what has now become an industry in itself. In some ways almost all aid (excepting responses to natural disasters) inevitably by-passes and props up corrupt governments and business. We tackle the effects but not the causes.

your poem raises valid and difficult questions Keith to which I have only scratched the surface. Thanks for posting.

Colin.

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They are ours

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