Monday, April 15, 2019

Poetry As a Reality Check


(Not every April poem rains petals.)


Copy and paste,
share and not care,
spin a lie because
you choose to believe it.
Truth isn’t even on life support.

It doesn’t matter until you’re not free.
Twitter can’t save you when
your stomach’s empty, when
your child’s tummy swells
while limbs shrink.

Bitter widens the divide,
fingers point, tongues bait.
Anger’s the new religion,
humane’s no longer a word.

Wake up or die sleeping.
Kindness is shrinking
while rancor loosens its belt.

©Susie Clevenger 2019

#NaPoWriMo

16 comments:

  1. A spot-on reality check, Susie! And you’re right, not every April poem rains petals. There seems to be too much copying, pasting and lying on social media – your phrase ‘Truth isn’t even on life support’ is so acerbic it stings.

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  2. i read recently that the nation is more divided than at any time since the 1890's. dark days, not soft petals, fall on us ~

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  3. This is incredibly powerful! These are indeed dark days we are living in.

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  4. There are a lot of people kneeling at the church of anger, lighting tiki torches instead of candles and with hate slogans serving as hymns.

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  5. Powerful — this reality check is something we need to acknowledge more often. This is an interesting perspective to the divisions as well.

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  6. So powerful Susie. It is a sad state of affairs we find ourselves in.

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  7. "truth isn't even on life support"...what a great line and an overall amazing write filled with frustration and warning. Whew...got my blood pumping!!!

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  8. Wow. Telling it like it is. Hard-hitting truth. Wake-up call. Way to go.

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  9. Very true Susie. We are so fucked up nowadays.

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  10. Truth? What's that? Where? Does anyone know anymore? We are living an Orwellian nightmare.

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  11. Rancor loosens its belt. Indeed. This is very powerful and timely.

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  12. "Wake up (and face all this again) or die sleeping" may be many's only choices. Bad, bad.
    ,,

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  13. Twitter can’t save you when
    your stomach’s empty, when
    your child’s tummy swells
    while limbs shrink.

    That says it!

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  14. Agree.. not every april poem should rain petals.. this one is much needed.

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  15. Sigh...yes...it's a return to the jungle...dog eat dog, survival of the fittest and to hell with the rest.So where did 2000 years of civilisation disappear to? Powerful poem. We are all thinking and feeling the same thing.All I know is the answer is not to sit, writing poetry, sipping tea, eating chocolate easter eggs and getting fat. OK..maybe it is?

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  16. The first two lines nailed the problem.. I'm just not sure there is a solution.

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