Sunday 12 January 2014

Meanwhile


They speak of the love affairs of celebrities

And the scores of sport stars
On live TV.
They speak of gourmet meals
And reality shows, and tell us what should matter
To you, to her, to him and to me.
And meanwhile, drones still fly
Over weddings and schools
Children die, and parents weep.
And meanwhile
The shadow of imperialism stalks 
Foreign lands. And meanwhile, freedom marches on
With boots blood-drenched with the souls of the 
Innocent, and the tears of the 
Unwillingly forsaken.
And meanwhile, countries scream
Under the bloodstained knives of freedom's warriors, 
Wherever and whoever they may be.
And, meanwhile, the planet bleeds oil
The air reeks poison, and the rivers seethe.
Not a word of that
Will they speak.


Copyright B Purkayastha 2014

2 comments:

  1. Sadly, this is all so very true.

    ReplyDelete
  2. This is true, but who is to blame is not as clear to me as it used to be.

    I used to say, "Oh, the media won't show us what is really happening!"

    But... if we watched, if we paid attention, and IF WE CLICKED THE LINKS, they'd show us more about what matters. Clicks determine content now.

    So I sort of blame myself now. I need to care about things that matter.

    ReplyDelete

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