barely a blip on the radar screen of time

our gasp in the time-space continuum

 

us

you and me

humans

mankind

(talk about an oxymoron)

that’s us

the ones with opposable thumbs

who can reason

who make tools

 who build bombs

who spill oil

who poison oceans

 

we are barely a blip on the radar screen of time,

but we will be the ones to bring this planet

to its knees

 

we flew to the moon

but we can’t cure cancer

we can’t cure aids

 

van gogh painted “starry night”

and Hitler built Auschwitz

 

monsters walk among us

men drunk on power

savage their brothers

babies starve

innocents suffer

 

we ration our tears,

ruled by our fears.

we map the genome,

we marvel at Mars.

we close our eyes,

cling to the television,

ignore the guns,

brush away the blood,

cover our ears

when the bomb goes off.

 

boom

 

 

Author's Note

this is a redo; I really like this poem, but the ending was cheesy and a cop-out. Since today is the 6 month anniversary of Newtowne, it behooves us, I think, to do a reality check on our REALITY.

Reviews

[Trigorin]

Not bad. I think you've grounded this piece more firmly, and that helps a bit with interpretation. You use some very good imagery in this, and while I think the lines beginning with 'the ones' in the first stanza are maybe a little overdrawn, that's a very minor issue. Good work.