Hi all at What's Going On?
First of all .. a public hurrah.. congratulations, welcome and delighted to participate in the launch of this much-needed site... For the last few years I have been wandering around in my mind ... wondering in polite language WTF is going on... and so to find fabulous familiar voices raised and opening doors to connect is a breath of fresh air. Time marches on and I'm part of the parade - have continued writing and have my small as I like it private practice to keep me connected outside my own tumultuous head. Enough of the prologue.
I hope that I am not beginning by breaking any rules - but as said I have had this question whirling for years now... I wanted to share my poem Gobsmacked with you all... (which is how I was feeling a few years ago and I've just continued to be smacked in the years up to the present!)
Hugs and looking forward to reading and commenting ! .. and now here is my launch poem...
GOBSMACKED *
When day might turn to night and night might turn to day
And people stop talking to you and why they won’t say
When the icecaps are melting and some say nothing is wrong
And the bees they are leaving and the frogs stop their song
When politics turn misanthropic, a mass mad mobby joke
And those who should speak forget how they once spoke
When you wake in the morning with a shudder and chill
And the future seems dark and dim and filled with ill will
When shots ring in classrooms and children fall dead
And elders are quiet while youngsters spill wisdom instead
When day might turn to night and night might turn to day
And you speak, think and write and don’t know what to say
When your heart pounds bloody and fingers turn icy and cold
And you try to be fierce, strong, stand up and be ever so bold
When the world starts to shrink and toddlers die at the shore
When war weapons murder innocents not less but still more
When eyes look for footing and guidance in hurricane gales
And find instead tossed bombastic operatic paper-towel tales
When it seems like you’re standing in a snow globe of frizz
And the very air that you breathe is thrumming with fizz
When sense flies out of touch and nothing seems real
And divisions are toxic and conversations surreal
When all that you knew seems now up for debate
And too much around you spews spilled out with hate
When you want to get going but can’t get to the gate
When day might turn to night and night might turn to day
As global shards of pain sidewise whirl destruction’s disarray
When oceans rise and mountains fall
And injustice and wrongs far too many to articulate them all
When you see time running out, hopefulness each day attacked
Then my friend, then you know, you are being ....
-Gobsmacked-
*title poem for a chapbook published out of frustration in 2019 -
I thought it was particularly appropriate for this wonderful kick off of
What's Going On?
