Animals in Unseen Cages
197 countries worldwide
and counting.
Asia, Africa,
South America.
168 million children.
1 in 6.
Trapped, chained, limited
in every aspect of their life possible.
Like animals in cages with unseen limits.
Pleading at the black bars.
Dying, starving, shrinking, collapsing.
Living in trash, living in filth.
Homeless or living in small lean-tos.
Little or no education.
Starting to work when they can barely express themselves
or say the alphabet.
Low-pay, never enough
to support them or their families.
Hazards, health issues,
unfair, unsafe,
hard future.
Dangerous, disease, dirty, degrading, devastating.
As soiled as swine,
as depressed as donkeys,
as endangered as elephants.
So that you and I
as part of the
fortunate, lucky people in the world
can have chocolate, bananas, sugarcane, soccer balls, Nike's.
Wants, extras, free time, fun.
Innocent people like us indirectly enslaving
those that work
for our likely unnecessary wants.
Maybe you aren’t innocent,
at least not anymore,
but you have the chance to change
and become free from guilt.
You can make a difference,
if you decide to.
And help make the world a better place.
I really likes the format of your poem, I thought it was very powerful. Although it wasn't read out loud I myself made the time to stop between every phrase which made it very powerful.
ReplyDeleteI can feel the passion that your poem has. It shows that you really care about other people around the world, and you are trying to show awareness through this poem. I know that the people in Africa, Asia, etc, are going to appreciate your collaboration with them.
ReplyDeleteGreat real world connection. It's awesome that you could write a poem which is both powerful and relates to what's going on in the world right now!
ReplyDeleteThis poem is really good, i feel like it captivates the imagery and what its like to be in their shoes, and what a big problem it is for them, for us to have pointless items
ReplyDeleteI believe that this is a great topic to bring people's attention and how the poem's set it up draws people to want to read this poem.
ReplyDelete