War Child

It has been quite a while since I last posted anything on this blog. I guess it's the same for many folk right now, what with all that's been going on in the world. It's probable that many have written much less because of lockdowns, wars and rumours of wars. But for me, it has been the opposite. I have been writing. I just haven't been writing academic material. My attention has turned to poetry, and as the most recent previous posts on this blog indicate, I'm deeply involved in reading, editing, publishing and performing poetry in numerous contexts. 

My most recent publication reflects the situation right now in Ukraine. A few weeks ago I was contacted by Save The Children - a global charity that supports children in crisis. Currently they are struggling to help all of the refugee children that are coming out of Ukraine, and they need as much help as they can get. So I took a few dozen of my older poems and a few new ones that focused on the theme of war, and put them together. The result is the book you see here - it's called War Child and it's just been published. All profits from the sales of the book (which is in both Kindle and paperback formats) will go to support Save The Children's efforts in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Moldova and other areas where Ukrainian refugee children are being cared for. Please, if you can, support this effort by purchasing a copy! 

You can buy through Amazon at various sites across the globe, including....

Amazon UK, Amazon USA, Amazon Australia, Amazon Canada, Amazon Germany, Amazon France, Amazon Spain, Amazon Italy, Amazon Netherlands, Amazon Turkey, Amazon Japan, Amazon Brazil, Amazon Mexico

Endgame

It doesn’t take a Herculean effort / to see that life on this fragile blue planet / is becoming precarious and more than it / can contain is coming down on it / as nature writhes around in a febrile fit / while we transform each forest into a barren desert / and there seems no easy way of stopping it / as each corporation grasps for its share of the profit / we see the loud mouthed social media misfits / and hear all the political spin prophets / selling their souls on the back of it / and looking away from change in the climate / as they continue to deny there’s anything in it. // 

This is more than a tragic shame / and we all need to take the blame / rich and poor, all of us are just the same / no excuses, whether justified or lame / we just sold our planet down the lane / when we took our eyes off the ball in the game / and our children’s futures are running down the drain / as we start the countdown for this planet's endgame. // 

We have long been abusing our tenure / when we think we can do what we want here / but as the sea levels rise dangerously higher / and destructive storms become increasingly stronger / and drought and floods are an imminent danger / the odds are becoming so much longer // 

as we try to prolong our collective survival / our carbon emissions stand without rival / and you know this stuff is far from trivial / though the will to stop it ain’t controversial / but all of the top climate change deniers / and the myriad ignorant science decriers / conveniently overlook all the facts in the files / they’re fiddling while the earth is on fire / like Nero did as Rome’s flames burnt higher / every last one of them is an absolute liar / each one is a self-interested betrayer / all part of a cabal of elite conspirers / hellbent on taking this down to the wire / while the Earth sits upon its own funeral pyre / and the future for our children is critically dire / and the world’s population is foundering in the mire // 

We’re living in a world of torment / where we all of us could easily prevent / the world’s next extinction level event / if only we would mutually consent / to limit the rubbish we have sent / up into the sky and the firmament / we know the atmosphere is not infinite / and our resources were never permanent / but the population seems to be hell bent / on a global scenario involving detriment //

The exponential rise in killer diseases / signals imminent destruction of our species / and while our survival chance decreases / it’s likely we’ll see the mass decimation / of our society in this next generation / with industrialised total domination / and ecological saturation / through the wanton, thoughtless jeopardization / of the health and safety of the population. //

This is more than a tragic shame / and each of us need to accept this blame / rich and poor, we’re all in this the same / there can be no excuses, whether justified or lame / for the way humanity has played this game / we collectively sold this planet down the lane / each of us has initiated this planet’s endgame // 

Steve Wheeler © 12 November, 2020

Photo by Pixnio