Progress

Men abandon their wives, and we call them, free.

Women abandon men, and we call them, crazy.

Children abandon abuse, and we call them, ungrateful.

A citizen abandons the futility of his country,

we call him, illegal.

A town abandons its ancestors, and we call it progress.

A country abandons its artists, and we call it progress.

A nation rejects a standard definition of progress,

and we say they have abandoned the law of reality.

Servants demand equal pay, and we say they have abandoned

the laws of reality.

People abandon a church, and we call them, heretics.

A church abandons its God, and we call it, progress.

A God abandons his or her people, we call it a whim.

A people abandon the reality of the land, and we call the result

and act of God. Or calamity of nature.

You abandoned me, and I forgive you.

A truck abandoned its path, and 20 people died,

and we called that, an act of God.

A people abandon a flag, and we call it treason.

A nation abandons its hungry, and we call that, progress.

Leaders abandon their nations, and we call that, politics.

I never would have abandoned you.

If a dream abandons you, it is like getting a new puppy

after a faithful companion dog dies. You must replace it.

If you abandon a dream, it will eat you.

If a farmer abandons his fields, you may eat the apples.

But only on Sundays.

Our love abandons us every day of the week, except

for Sunday. That is the day I still paint you as a poet,

write you as a painter.

A generation abandoned the earth, and the earth will now devour

your grandchildren.

Our children devour the earth, and we still call it progress.

I cannot forgive my country for abandoning our mercy.

Your country I must forgive, because you abandoned me,

but it was not your fault.

Your church abandoned you, and it was

everyone’s fault that you let them call it, progress.

 

 

 

 

 

Author's Note

inspired partly by current events (an accident that left 20 people dead) and partly by a work by a Chinese poet.

written for our club president

Reviews

[h d e rushin]

98 percent of all abandonment Is due to bias. Gender, cultural, material or hedonistic. My sharp tongue Baptist Preacher uncle always says to me "let's see what the bible has to say about it". Then he flips to a certain scripture deep in an old book and finds some vertical measure that applies to the circumstance. "if you abandon a dream, it will eat you". That about sums me up right there. Everything else, if you feel it, can taste it, can hoist it over your shoulders or can drag it around, is not real anyways...Patriotism is only theoretical if it's buttressed by the sword, or trampled under the heel. There really is no "good" war, no honest protest, no Pilt-down man./ dana

[Travis Gibson (poetic h..]

You touched on so many things, and its just amazing how we have so many different perspectives on things that should be pretty straightforward, " a nation abandons its hungry, and we call that, progress." One of the lines that really hit this home for me. Great work.

[emmajoy]

' Our love abandons us every day of the week, except for Sunday. That is the day I still paint you as a poet, write you as a painter. '

Or, colour life without shadows or faith in what is seen as truth...

Seems tragedies erupt even thr doubts we thought long ago buried. To uncover shadows is rediscovering that immediate once thought is often the way to go, the negatives are prevalent, that reality scars in the rawest cruellest manner. You grab facts by whatever is nearest, never refuting this or that facet of belief or doubt. You teach, you knock down... you describe then take apart... just as tragedy does. This is a testament not only to fine writing but to thought bound by emotion absolutel. You've never altered, R., always held your own pose, knowing that what is within is doubt because it needs be there. Somehow.

[Chris]

So many have differing views toward ...existence and how we interact and re-act. And what IS civilized and isn't... Morality is seldom moral but always popular to its then place.

You speak well - and I hope you are heard Marie...

[Ken Simm.]

Its wonderful what we call progress isn't it? You are quite simply one of the most amazing poets I have ever read. Bar none. This just proves it.

[Mike Emil]

hmm...what's Mike Emil supposed to say about this? bet that b*****d gombeggar likes it though...