We Live In Times Of Deep Regret

(one from my archives, but just as relevant)

Our scales are out of sorts it seems

on planet earth, where basic needs

of human beings can't be met.

From birth it can't be much to ask

for food and shelter, water too.

How can it be so many starve

when others thrive as they pass through?

We live in times of deep regret,

when half the world wakes up each day

without a meal, no means to pay.

When drinking water, crystal clean

and remedies for minor ills

can save the lives of families.

Necessities, no lace-made frills.

Oh how I wish, I held that dish,

Dame Fortune in between my hands.

I'd stand and serve the portions out

ensuring fairness for all lands.

Reviews

[jacob erin-cilberto]

fairness? wow, what is that? seems pretty lost these days...yes, this poem is quite appropriate now as it was back then. There is a new drug that is coming out that actually helps women with post birth depression...and for God's sake...they say it will cost 35 thousand a dose...money, money and more money for the rich...and less and less for the poor.
meaningful write here for many reasons.
j.

[Chris Shaw]

Yes Jacob, it all costs money and only the rich can afford it. And pharmaceutical companies make obscene profits. The nasty side of capitalism. Many thanks for your thoughts. Much appreciated.

Chris

[Coyote Poetry]

I been to Africa and Asia. I learn. Some places, life is not easy and governments have little concern for the people. Here in the USA. If have one illness, won't treat another. Same process in the poor countries for many years. Government allow you to die or you pay a lot to live. USA can feed the world. They don't want to. Spend 1.2 trillion on war. 1/10 of this money could feed our world. In some states. Have volunteer suicide. Young people accepting death before trying cure. I understand your words dear Chris. I worry for my world.
Coyote

[Chris Shaw]

I share your pain Coyote. There is enough for everyone, yet some are too greedy. There could be more support got people suffering but Governments don't care sufficiently.

Chris

[Coyote Poetry]

I agree dear Chris. USA paid farmers, not to farm. The waste alone from the large food stores in the USA could feed Africa.

[Chris Shaw]

Sounds like over here. The EU pay our farmers to leave there fields uncultivated. Makes no sense to me at all.

Chris

[kentuck14]

If history continues its route through time what will the generations say of our brief spell on earth?

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Tom. They will say we didn't have a blooming clue. We came, we saw and we devastated.
read moreThank you Tom. They will say we didn't have a blooming clue. We came, we saw and we devastated.

Chris

[Dave]

I'm with you. It is shocking that in a world where there is so much that could be had and yet there are so many many that have so very very little. That those with so much are reluctant to give up some of what they have to help those that are struggling just to survive, to me is unconscionable. What I find especially despicable is our own "leader", an example of extreme wealth, is so willing to take so much away from the poor simply because his predecessor had implemented it. This man incenses me more than any other I have ever known or read about, accept perhaps Hitler.

Take care - Dave

[Chris Shaw]

Thank you Dave. Good to hear your thoughts. I am sure many feel the same way about your Leader. The poor deserve to be cared for. The have nots are constantly on my mind.

Chris

[Stella Armour]

the gulf between the "haves" and the "have nots" grows deeper , even in our own wealthy country many people do not have their basic needs met.
It annoys me when they say to give to cancer research when we already know that immunotherapy and other methods are often successful and used in other countries .... yet not here!
I used to donate a month;y sum out of my pension to "Save the Children" until i found out how much the sponsor celebrities were being paid just to face the campaign.....
i could proper rant about these points so i had better walk away now..

[Chris Shaw]

Dear Stella, I am very careful now which charities I support for exactly the Sam reasons as you. When the bulk of donations go on advertising and the salaries of staff, there is something drastically wrong. Thank you for your thoughts and your visit. I relate.

Chris

[Stella Armour]

i did also learn that profits from Children in Need were ploughed into the cigarette industry shares and not straight to the point of need ... i don't know how true this is it did make me wonder if the money was invested rather than spent ?

[Chris Shaw]

I think that is something which definitely warrants investigating :(

[Stella Armour]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25273024

[Chris Shaw]

Sad to read that Stella. Quite an eye opener as well :(

[Stella Armour]

I don't know how they get away with it ... money under false pretences....while children starve :(

[Chris Shaw]

Just awful.

[Stella Armour]

i don't even bother to watch these programmes any more... it's just a sham . They know people will fall soft and donate ... sad pictures of blind and dying children used to line the pockets of big company bosses ... it disgusts me

[Chris Shaw]

Horrible isn't it Stella? Truly horrible and I agree with you.

[John Alexander McFadyen]

Indeed a sentiment shared by many and yet we are powerless to address it but at the margins it seems. A fine flowing piece with a moral conscience. Is kilt used correctly in the first stanza as in pleated or tucked up?

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanks John and I have made a correction. Kilter won't fit with the meter but sorts will. I appreciate your advice.

Chris

[barleygirl]

This world is so out-of-whack, people are fighting over how to remedy things, so nothing gets done. This country is a freakin' mess (as I'm sure many feel about your own) . . . and we are the ones doing well on this planet! So many other countries with dire tragedy widespread! I can't stand it. Thanks for writing & posting a fitting & straightforward rant (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[Chris Shaw]

Yes Margie, the world is a mess. Politicians can't help themselves, they just make the whole damn situation worse. It's good to have a little rant every now and then. Many thank yous, and good to see you.

Chris

[Annette Pisano-Higley]

Beautiful and so deeply moving dear Chris. The haves and have nots of the earth- such abhorrent, rampant inequity. People dying for lack of the “necessities” of life, while others profiting in greed. Your poem is absolutely relevant and each line is filled with truth and heartfelt tears. Graceful, flowing verses with perfect cadence and rhyme. The title is resonant and profound-“We live in times of deep regret”. Yes we do.

[Chris Shaw]

Many thanks Annette, yes the inequity is abhorrent. A splendid way of saying that life is so unfair. The haves versus the have nots. Some peoples wealth I find so obscene, I really do.

Chris