Sad Thoughts
Just a wearying for them
All the sad folk who clutter up our television
Getting our attention so very often
For just a few contaminated moments
That woman murdered by an estranged partner
Two children killed by a father who shot himself later
A black man kneed to death by a guilty policeman
Seven indigenous victims dying in custody
A woman’s body found in a bin
Fatalities on the roads
A shooting in the USA – many dead
That’s enough
A valid sample of the nature of things
Stories told by our media
Amidst advertisements for the living
Why is this so?
Why is our awareness so steeped in death?
Does it sell well?
Do we rejoice in iniquity?
Is there a salacious pleasure in other people’s demise?
I don’t know
Those questions leave me cold
Perhaps because I am old
Other things however I have noticed
Today an ancient gave his wife of sixty years a flower
And yesterday a mother gave birth to her third child
Last week a blind man read his first book written in Braille
And as a teacher left his class for the last time
The children said goodbye with love in their hearts
Were these events in the news?
Did they make the headlines?
No. But be assured they happened
As surely as the sun rises on a beautiful world
Last Train To Nowhere
All aboard
Stand clear doors closing
Quick
Hurry up you’ll miss it
Last train about to leave
There
You’ve made it
O my that was close
That’s right move right in
Plenty of seats
The train’s almost empty
Right, there you are
Take that place and relax
Reflect on the thoughts
You have just shared at the virtual climate summit
Emissions plan
What did you say?
Technology not targets
Yes!
What a brilliant obfuscation!
A shield to avoid the obligation
That would reduce the incomes of your cronies
Conveniently vague too…
No greenhouse emissions reduction target just now
Brilliant!
You chronicle your deeds without commitment
Then you promise billions for low emissions technology
What a beautiful distraction from the inconvenient truth!
Why carbon dioxide wouldn’t melt in your mouth…
Technology will solve all our problems
Lovely!
Fire, drought, storm and flood
Can be topics for tomorrow’s tomorrow
You are indeed an artful dodger
Sit back now and enjoy the trip
Bank Robbery
Banks
There you stand
Ruling with a lucrative hand
Amidst the tyranny of finance
Favouring the few with the pain of the many
Institutions tainted by greed
Designed by fiscal fiends to bleed the world
With sops for Cerberus
Tainted money extracted by devices you have designed
To make a chosen few rich
And yet, when trouble comes
Who save you?
Why the masses themselves by government decree
Those you exploit when the going is easy
Public funds to the rescue
Your very existence
Is deemed essential by our rulers
And must be preserved
While lesser consortia are allowed to fail
And each CEO you choose is an overpaid despot
Presiding above tainted procedures
Invented to give you the power of affluence
Your might is unseemly
And casts a shadow over any image of righteousness
So what then is your destiny?
Quo Vadis?
Is it power you seek to rule the world?
Or do you merely aim for the Midas touch?
Beware!
For change is in the air
Other people in the end may soon decide your fate
People voted into power by all your debtors
Then it shall follow as the night the day,
The victims robbed by banks will have their say
Last Hope
I wandered lonely as a leper
Trying to find a solution to my woes
My money was scarce – a mere pittance
And my landlord had sold my home
Telling me to live elsewhere
My bones ached when I walked the street
And the weather was cold
To make things worse I was feeling old
With very good reason for I was eighty eight
And my walking stick kept slipping on the pavement
Nevertheless I was keeping on with the journey
I had no choice
It was a mission I had to endure
If I was to survive
Not flourish mind you, merely to continue to exist
So on I went
Searching for a last hope in the battleground of being
No guns to the right of me; no guns to the left of me
Only people
Preoccupied with their own existence
Time dragged itself on – reluctantly
Then the storm came
Thunder like a thousand factories in the night
Lightning like missiles in a suffering sky
Rain pounding me
Like bullets from the Marne, the Somme and Verdun combined
I sought safety desperately
Suddenly there it was
A Government Senior Citizen’s Refuge with an open door
Shelter
But that was not all
From that day my life was changed
Welfare came: medical support, social discourse, leisure schemes
All free and state funded
The last days of my life were to have a caring theme
But how I wish this tale of mine was not a utopian dream
Drums of War
We’re told it’s a stark threat looming
And the weapons trade isn’t booming
So the media moguls tell us
With the slanted news they sell us
That war is soon to come
And they beat the hostile drum
Little bits of innocuous news
Are twisted for us to peruse
So it seems we are all in danger
And war is the re-arranger
Ah yes conflict seems so real
It’s described with fictitious zeal
There’s a dire threat warfare is breaking
Where medals will be yours for the taking
Soon brave blood will be flowing
So buy your shares in Boeing
Then praise your way of life
And pretend that danger is rife
Invent tall tales of ill fame
As you blacken the enemy’s name
Then turn to wartime’s story
Speak loudly of past glory
Praise the way your country thrives
Because young men have given their lives
Remember to hail our current friends
Say that partnership never ends
Then find a foe’s false crime to explore
And you’re ready, yes ready for a lovely war
Whistle Blower
Liars, deceivers and secret operators
Have something to fear from the whistle blower
Leaks are deadly things
When you have something to hide
On the other hand
If you are open and honest
Divulged information can be a reward
And bring you fame and fortune
So please remember
You kings in shady castles
You masters of secretive cover up
If you dupe, deceive, hoodwink and hoax
And then classify your sins
To hide the evidence
Someone somehow sometime will reveal the truth
Somewhere your nemesis will be waiting
And your dirty linen will be left waving in the breeze of awareness
So here’s to the brave souls who will not stand your nonsense
Your sinister subtle cover up
Your cunning disguises
Your pretence of virtue
Who know that humanity needs public display
Integrity, peer reviews, the brilliance of scientific analysis
And who dare to expose your crimes
They are waiting for you
They will be poised in the darkness you conjure up
To hide your sins
With a light that will bounce off Heaven
To uncover your secrets
And expose your evil to a suffering world
O agents worthy of blame
Beware!
Someone soon will reveal your shame
Endings
All things and people disappear finally
Unless you remember them
I think often of my mother and her love for me
Even though I am now old
I can recall when she sheltered me from the cold
And comforted me
She is dead now and that warmth was so long ago
I cannot forget it however, especially when icy winds blow
My father had broad shoulders
I rode them as a child to watch a football match
It was so crowded
And I felt so secure, safe on that pillar of strength
I have forgotten the football match
But I remember my father constantly
Notably when I am in a crowd
Grandfather’s name was Nanny
He told me stories often
Especially when I was sick or frightened
Those stories have stayed with me
And when I recollect them
I am still on that knee
Bouncing a little and loving the tales
Of Antonio and Antonius
Then there is my beloved wife now dead
But still alive to me with her loving thoughts
And my children
Who never forgot my birthday
I still call them to mind too
Where am I now?
I seem to be alone and growing old
Very old
Well not really alone
Just in a home for the aged
I share time with others that my fellow old folk
Are not aware of
Can you guess the real company that I keep?
royciebaby
Royce Levi Australian Teacher and Author 