At first they came for our place of worship
Excavating underneath the foundation
Ripping apart the rights in the constitution
Knowing all well that it is no stewardship
Then they came for our meagre plate
Banning transport of female cattle
Stigmatising a faith with a stroke of a gavel
Knowing all well that many eat beef of late
Then they came for our legitimate purse
Outlawing instantly every day cash notes
Transforming whole life savings to a curse
Knowing all well the impact to the poor hordes
Then they came for our identity documents
Questioning our very basic right to soil
People rummaging to find missing documents
Knowing all well the social fabric will spoil
Then they came for our daily expenses
Imposing a stiff consumption GST tax
Taxing informal business to a max
Knowing all well the economic consequences
Then they came for our daily fuel
Escalating the prices at the pump
Turning everything into a crunch
Knowing all well it is all too cruel
Then they came for our meagre livelihoods
Imposing a lockdown as a cruel surprise
Stranding millions of desperate families
Knowing all well the impact to neighbourhoods
Then they came for our precious air
Rationing oxygen quota to the states
Ignoring the complex logistics to bear
Knowing all well the magnitude of the stakes
For what will they come abruptly
For the earth above our dead body
For the wood around our burning body
For the death of this great country
MN 2021.05.08
Comments2
You have both my sympathy and my condolences and your poem cuts to the bone, laying bare the evils of tyranny and intolerance amidst this plague that has buggered up the world and torn people apart instead of bringing them together in mutual sympathy for their suffering.
Unfortunately your remarks are pertinent and prevalent in many parts of the world today. May this virus disappear from Earth forever!
Thank you!
(a wonderfully impassioned write
thanks for inspiring my little scribbled reply, dear poet)..
without adversity, there is no growth
just endless social ladders
where up, equates stepping on fingers
of fellow sufferers
and down, is giving-in
because surrendering is so appealing..
so instead, we allow ourselves to be herded
hiding in the warm middle, away from all the hurt
only, belatedly: do we realise
all that anxiety and inadequacy
is festering from pools of loathing
in that river of wilful ignorance
we helped cultivate: within our heart's..
so today, its a mismanaged covid virus
tomorrow its a world wide, doorstep of anarchy
where detonated: identity politics
rips-apart our very families
and the tomorrow, that awaits - after?
well, let's think positively
and assume, there will be someone left
to care...
(It is not our circumstances, that 'define us'
but 'who'
we choose to evolve, in-to: 'despite - them'...!)
A poetic reply with a message, nice! Thanks
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