Sand Castles in Dry Deserts

-enjoy-

 

Children beat the sand

And flatten it out

Getting out all the sticks.

They collect the pieces,

Only “perfect” squares;

Buckets full of options.

And

-PLOP-

The buckets are flipped.

One-Two-Three

The molds are lifted.

Some crumble instantly.

Others stand shakily;

A sigh of relief

The squares start changing,

No longer squares;

Circles, triangles, polygons.

The castles start falling.

“NO”, scream the children

As they try to hold them up.

But the once “perfect” particles

Slip through their hands.

Beautiful facades melt;

Unsure souls remain.

“What now?” the children ask.

“Beat them down and start again?”

“Hope the once squares change back?”

“Or do we walk away?”

As the children think

The castles continue falling.

“But this is just sand,” the bigot boy says.

“Sand can’t rebuild itself.”

“We started this,” Richard Wright said.

“We need to finish.”

The magnificent particle parliaments crumble.

“But our barbaric experiment is failing.”

Once more they try to hold the sand.

Once more it slips away.

Like time through an hourglass

Goes their dreams of democracy.

Will the children help?

Reviews

[" I Love These Flo..]

I think this a really clever way to display such a serious topic and ask the question of how responsible are we and is the attempt at democracy, American style, the right thing for the people of Iraq or is there some other form of government that would better suit their needs; maybe, one that doesn't resemble western ideology and that is the question. Beautiful piece and thought provoking.

[1]

Excellent transition. Very well stated.

[Christopher Tait]

This is really good. Really, really good. The metaphor you use is spot-on and the end results of your metaphor and the real event come out exactly the same way. You did an awesome job with this, seriously.