“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy”-Martin Luther King Jr. US Black civil rights leader & clergyman (1929 - 1968)
I ask myself how it is that a man can sleep
while famine has run rampant
as each day the fortitude of his fellow people
slowly becoming more stagnant
in the midst of the hunger and starvation
how could he have possibly thrust aside within his mind
the untold deaths and devastation
does he not recognize the despair in the children’s eyes
does he not feel the resonance from the mother’s who cry
while so many search for ways to cope
clinging to each breath taken as their only sign of hope
he lie in wake
concerned only about himself and that which he can take
he steals
…and then he rapes
how can it be that this marauder so hideous
with his gun ready to fire into calamitous yearnings
his ego demanding respect
…while empathy is nonexistent
finds himself able to sleep
I cannot fathom how he can
dare he consider himself a man
while famine has run rampant
as each day the fortitude of his fellow people
slowly becoming more stagnant
in the midst of the hunger and starvation
how could he have possibly thrust aside within his mind
the untold deaths and devastation
does he not recognize the despair in the children’s eyes
does he not feel the resonance from the mother’s who cry
while so many search for ways to cope
clinging to each breath taken as their only sign of hope
he lie in wake
concerned only about himself and that which he can take
he steals
…and then he rapes
how can it be that this marauder so hideous
with his gun ready to fire into calamitous yearnings
his ego demanding respect
…while empathy is nonexistent
finds himself able to sleep
I cannot fathom how he can
dare he consider himself a man
Rory
©rj2011
*Dedicated to the plight of the Women and Children affected by the drought, famine, and warmongering that is plaguing all of East Africa. I do pray for the end to their hunger and the senseless atrocities they are faced with.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/07/31/somali-women-fleeing-fami_n_914321.html
*photo credit---google.com/open domain
Amen Rory
ReplyDeleteAnimals are much more human, male animals much more men, than some humans who call themselves men.
ReplyDeleteIt is so easy to sleep if your conscious is nonexistent.....
ReplyDeletewow.. I love you, in the most basic sense.
ReplyDeleteMe either, wow very moving Rory, I am happy I was finally able to get on to the site, very sad and emotionally tugging and may I add heartbreaking.
ReplyDelete