An Empathetic Atheist

[anirbas]

Shot through with light and random holes of darkness
I find myself wandering my parcel of the planet
Searching for signs of humanity's humanity

A firm believer in all possibility
Doggedly I hold faith everyone is good
Until they prove otherwise to my eyes

Hope continues to spring eternally
That someday the herd of others like me
Will exponentially grow far and wide

Still wars rage in Syria and Palestine
Innocent children raised on the battlefield
Their bedtime stories punctuated

By gunfire. Their lullabies the sound of mortars
In the name of religion this isn't right
Yet no one has yet stood up and said loudly

This shall cease and desist. No more dead children
No more parents wailing in the ravaged streets
War is for corporations and oligarchs

Corrupted entities non-human in shape
They do not deserve the simplest of human rights
There is no humility in their stance

This armchair human rights activist says freeze
Time to dismantle rust riddled institutions
Replace them with the true voices of the people

Before the next war is waged in our backyard
Concern for fellow humans must be sacrosanct
"Indivisible, with liberty and justice, for all."

Globally. Steve Miller Band sang it right
"Time keeps on slippin' slippin' slippin'
into the future I want to fly like an eagle..."

Shot through with light and random holes of darkness
I find myself wandering my parcel of the planet
Searching for signs of humanity's humanity

[aims]

[anirbas]

Thank you kindly, Amy.

[heartfelt7]

Beautifully expressed frustration with the way the world is.

[anirbas]

Heart! Heart! Heart! (sound of this woman doing a happy dance)
Someone made it to the library!!! So goooooood to see you, dear Heart!!!
I was at work and missed your landing earlier today. Someday, we will be on at the same time.

So, how are you? How are the grandbabies? Keeping you and your daughter
busy, I'd imagine.

Thanks for the read and comments, but, your being here, out shadowed my old poem.
You literally just made my day!!! I miss your poetry and your marvelous insights
when you're out there in the big wide world. You keep our ragtag band grounded.

Am I gushing enough??? Can you tell how tickled I am???

[heartfelt7]

Nothing out shadows your poetry, Nir. I stop in here and there like a hummingbird needing some life- affirming nectar. I recently saw a YouTube video about the world being the way it is because human beings can't love, yet we have to! It is "up to us" I saw the best bumper sticker the other day: "When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, the world will know peace." (There's a poem in there somewhere.)

[heartfelt7]

I remembered the video. It was "Actually, We Have No Love" by Krishnamurti. Disturbing in a way.

[darkness0within]

Our lives glide on the thinnest of veneer we call civilization. It has been said that the natural state of things is chaos, and from time to time this coalesces into what we would we like to see... Order. Peace. A love of ones fellow man or woman. But always there are forces that would want to destroy this. there is a cycle to all things, but chaos is never far away.

In all honesty I don't think the human race has not had a conflict small or large since our time began as the dominant species on this planet. which I feel is disheartening to say the least. In the scale of things we are new kids on the block, and still learning how to act our part. If we can overcome the petty things that distract us and get on with what actually is important for ours, and those that share this planet with us I am unsure. we are still evolving as a race, and how we might be in the distant future, and what our environment will look like. And also what other life might be sharing this world with us will depend on how we act as that dominant species now. In some ways we are too successful for our own good. But chaos is ever present under that thin veneer.

An excellent write anirbas.

 

[anirbas]

Aug 31, 2018 15:14:26 GMT -6 heartfelt7 said:

Nothing out shadows your poetry, Nir. I stop in here and there like a hummingbird needing some life- affirming nectar. I recently saw a YouTube video about the world being the way it is because human beings can't love, yet we have to! It is "up to us" I saw the best bumper sticker the other day: "When the Power of Love overcomes the Love of Power, the world will know peace." (There's a poem in there somewhere.)

Yes, sweet Heart, there is. And I believe you should write the poem.

Thank you for high praise, indeed. I equally adore your pieces. I wish you were here far more often.
And not because you like my writing. Haha. As I said before, you ground our motley crew with your poetry
and your powerful insights. I miss the days you were in and out, more often. But, I'll gladly take
our hummingbird anytime we can get her.

Now, dish. How old are the grands, now? Two, if I recall. Unless there are more now? And your daughter?
As always, I wish you and yours are doing well. Take care of you for me.

I look forward to your next visit, hummingbird!

[anirbas]

And thank you for your read and comments, Darkness.