»
Archives
»
Open Poetry #47
»
Heirs to the Throne
| Open Poetry #47 |
|
Heirs to the Throne |
|
|
Lori Grosser Rhoden Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202Fair to middlin' of nowhere 
|
Time changes little The things that must remain the same Things we choose to ignore Or dress incognito Facts of life we elaborate To distortion Confusion we carefully pass on In our infinite ignorance We strive to educate To somehow eradicate The evil unknown Too hell bent blind To see the hypocrisy In the answers contradictions Too anxious to find solutions We jump to revolutions Executions Discord becomes the point Of a narrowed vision The sole basis of decision Like gods almighty We judge from atop Our slave labor pinnacles On the righteousness Of humanity We awe ourselves With our powerful nations Accomplishments and creations Disregarding the debris Of catastrophe As if to say Mankind has no debt To pay For this destruction His superior mind Can create acceptable excuses To justify the abuses We even try to sanctify Our derision With God’s permission To sweep it under the rug Always assuming there will be Someone else to do The undoing Of what we’ve done When instincts ruled the garden And all needs were met The balance was set Till high minded humanity Shifted the weight And tipped the scales Always blinded to the truth That the world Would be better off Without us With guilt admitted too late We struggle to survive With a counter balance Christ We immortalize To make truth from our lies Blind men cry Over the mortal pain of separation Weep in vain From their pinnacles Filling the sea with tears For a holy moat Around their guilt castle walls And play king of the beasts On self righteous thrones Till time passes away To let the blind man see The worth of his weight On the scale Without grace |
||
| © Copyright 2011 Lori Grosser Rhoden - All Rights Reserved | |||
|
ethome Member Patricius
since 2000-05-14
Posts 11858New Brunswick Canada |
Very well expressed Lori. You're right on in your expression of man's short sighted accomplishments. One thing leads to another etc. This piece is very honest and powerful and I'm glad you wrote it. My biggest fear in all of this are claims that the next wars will be fought over water. Hard to imagine. When will mankind shelve the greed? A man can live about a month without food, but he will die in about a week without water. Hence, experts claim that declining supplies of fresh water will be a source of increasing tension in coming years. According to a 2002 Time magazine report, worldwide more than a billion people do not have easy access to clean drinking water. Water shortages occur for a variety of reasons. In France, pollution plays a role and is a growing source of concern. “French rivers are in a very poor state of health,” says Le Figaro. Scientists have traced the problem to nitrate-rich runoff, which comes primarily from fertilizers used for farming. “French rivers discharged 375,000 tons of nitrates into the Atlantic in 1999, almost twice as much as in 1985,” states the paper. The situation is similar in Japan. In order to provide a steady supply of food in that country, “farmers had no choice but to rely on chemical fertilizers and pesticides to meet society’s demand,” says Yutaka Une, head of a nonprofit farm safety organization. This has led to underground water pollution—which Tokyo’s IHT Asahi Shimbun calls “a major problem across Japan.” In Mexico, 35 percent of illnesses “have their origin in environmental factors,” reports the newspaper Reforma. Furthermore, a study by the secretary of health revealed that “1 out of every 4 inhabitants does not have a sewer; over 8 million get their water from wells, rivers, lakes, or streams; and over one million obtain water from tanker trucks.” Little wonder that 90 percent of Mexico’s diarrhea cases are attributed to contaminated water! “Rio’s beaches offer more than hot sun, white sand, and blue sea,” states Brazil’s Veja magazine. “They also harbor high levels of fecal coliforms and occasional oil spills.” That is because more than 50 percent of Brazil’s sewage flows directly into rivers, lakes, and the ocean without being treated. The result is a chronic shortage of clean water. The rivers around Brazil’s largest city, São Paulo, are so heavily polluted that drinking water is now brought in from some 60 miles away. On the other side of the globe, much of Australia’s water shortage stems from a process called salinization. For decades landowners were encouraged to clear their land in order to plant crops. With fewer trees and shrubs to soak up the groundwater, water tables began to rise, bringing with them thousands of tons of subterranean salt. “Some 2.5 million hectares [6.2 million acres] of land are already affected by salinity,” says Australia’s Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). “Much of this is Australia’s most productive agricultural land.” Some believe that if the Australian legislators had not chosen profit over public interest, the salinity problem might have been avoided. “Governments were told from as early as 1917 that Wheatbelt soils were especially prone to salinity,” says Hugo Bekle of Edith Cowan University in Perth, Australia. “The impact of clearing on stream salinity was publicised by the 1920’s, and its effect on a rising water table was accepted in the Agricultural Department by the 1930’s. A major report was undertaken for the [Australian] Government by the CSIRO in 1950, . . . yet governments persistently ignored these warnings, dismissing scientists as prejudiced.” Survival Threatened Without doubt, many of man’s actions have been well intended. But as is so often the case, we simply do not know enough about the environment to predict the consequences of our actions accurately. The results have been devastating. “We’ve so upset the balance of life here that we threaten the very land that supports us and, through that, our own survival,” says Tim Flannery, South Australian Museum director. Thanks for gathering the courage to write this Lori. More people need to pay attention. Not much of an inheritance to leave for future generations. Eric oxymoron....Rap Music |
||
|
Lori Grosser Rhoden Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202Fair to middlin' of nowhere |
Hey Eric! I wrote this poem several years ago and as you can see, it still speaks to today, maybe even better than it did when I wrote it. I really appreciate your in depth reply. Thanks for being here. Lori |
||
|
faithmairee Senior Member
since 2011-01-05
Posts 1441Poe Haven, USA |
very powerful indeed...Lori, there is so much truth to this wonderfully written poem of yours...very nice work! There must be a poem in here somewhere. |
||
|
Honeybunch Member Rara Avis
since 2001-12-29
Posts 7115South Africa |
Lori - It's a sad fact that your poem depicts the world as it was, is, and perhaps always will be. There are some who believe that whatever is happening now has already happened and will happen again but let's hope more and more people change enough to change the world. Will have to go back to read Eric's response and then I think I'll just revert to happy thoughts for fear of adding my energy to the state of the world and mankind generally. Well done, Lori. Helen |
||
|
Lori Grosser Rhoden Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202Fair to middlin' of nowhere |
Faith, I'm glad you enjoyed this poem ___________________________________________ Helen, I appreciate your statement on not wanting to add unhappy energy. I hear where you are comming from and that is a cool place. Lori |
||
|
Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
You're right. GOOD stuff like this takes its place in history, and can always be revived. And appreciated. |
||
|
Lori Grosser Rhoden Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202Fair to middlin' of nowhere |
Thanks Sweetie  |
||
|
OwlSA Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347Durban, South Africa |
Lori, this masterpiece is an outstanding piece of work – in truth, concept, content and art. In my humble opinion, this extremely complex situation is theoretically very simple to fix (we need to get back to basic values of humanity such as love, kindness, compassion, service to the community and a thirst for wisdom), and in practice, the simple fix is very complex and possibly impossible to fix (because of, as Robbie Burns so succinctly put it, “man’s inhumanity to man”, and by implication, to Nature and to God ). Your poem has inspired me to post a poem, that (because of how many poems I wrote on 18 February, and I have been posting them chronologically), I wasn't planning to post yet, Marula Ubuntu. It is not the fix, but just a tiny bit of it. If I was still teaching, whether English or any other subject, I would ask your permission to let me use your masterpiece in my classes. I am not, but please may I use it in the Poetry Club I run at a children’s home? Owl |
||
|
Lori Grosser Rhoden Member Patricius
since 2009-10-10
Posts 10202Fair to middlin' of nowhere |
Owl by all means use the poem. I am very honored it can be used for a higher purpose. Thank you so much for your very very generous complements. Lori |
||
|
OwlSA Member Rara Avis
since 2005-11-07
Posts 9347Durban, South Africa |
Thank you, Lori. I am very grateful and am looking forward to using it. It was my delight to tell you what I thought of your poem. Owl |
||
|
|
⇧ top of page ⇧ |
|
| All times are ET (US). All dates are in Year-Month-Day format. | ||
