PROGRESS?

When I look out my windows

what do I see?

I wish what I'd see

was tree after tree,

 

and green grass and bushes 

all growing tall

and not scores of trailors

replacing it all.

 

Right here, where I stand,

roamed panther and deer

which Seminole hunters

tracked without fear.

 

If those hunters could see

what has happened here.

I know they'd be shedding

many a tear.

 

Their beautiful forest now

steel and concrete

and trees seperated

by scores of feet,

 

 

The cool, clear water of

river and stream

now polluted with trash

and other debris.

 

I realize that progress is 

needed today.

but, oh, what a horrible

price we have paid! 

Reviews

[Bare trees]

I used to have trees surronding my home and street. Now there are houses upon houses filling it all up, including a brick wall outside my window where I used to feed birds and squirls. No one feels the beat of your poem more then I my friend. I feel i have lost so much. All memories of places I grew up and played are just that now. Those places are all gone. This all took place in a matter of five years. It was like the land rush. Where it once was quiet, is now noise. Progress is indeed painful in so many ways. I can't imagine what the american indian must have gone through, being shoved onto reservations and then finally having their way of life become extinct.
A great piece my friend, thanks for sharing it with us.

[Terry Ellis]

Oh, so true. I think about that type of sadness occassionally. Sometimes I wish things were a little less instead of more.

[Nyida Strong]

I loved it! The style itself was fantastic but it was the content that truly captured my attention. I'm not a fan of the urban sprawl that has conquered all the natural world. I'm part Souix and somehow feel the conection of the world. Nature should never be blocked into little "parks" sealed away from so many.

Powerful piece.

N. Strong

[Sean Allen]

I love the the flow and "beat" that you have used. It sort of reminded me of the drumbeats at the schemitzun festival that is held up here in Connecticut each August by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe.