The eagle and the parrot

My birth was in a songful island
Clad in the wildest fetchings from the surf
Teeming with parrots and eternal flowers
Noisily dancing by the sensuous sea.
An island full of people, dreaming,
Eating and drinking, making children, dying
In a marvelous cacophony of living
Free of constricting serpents full of fear
Smothering the soul of our northern brothers

Robbed of their wealth and also of their honor
Surrounded by police in their own prison
Drinking and drugging to forget the moment
Watching what others do, inside a box
That hands out loneliness in a neon whirl
That moving at vertiginous speed
Assures no one listens and nobody cares.

"Get on with paying boy! For freedom to choose puppets
Cough up the price of glitter for the few
Forget the weight of gold and mighty power
Don't ask too many questions, go to sleep!
Don't worry about the future, is on TV."

"It is for you, my brother, that I interrupt this program
To shout a wake up call; the time is now!
Admit your greed and your unending cravings
Stop getting the future from TV!
Love thy God Father and don't wound his brood
He gives you trees, the sunsets and the wind,
The winged bird and the mischievous chimp
Mountains and valleys, but never the flu"

"Sweet brother from the icy North
Forgive yourself and dance a noisy gigue".

But let us now return to our program
Of flaxen rulers, aloft in icy winds
Nourished by greed, envy and power
Their murky little souls mired in decay
Frenzied by money and betrayed by wires
Forever longing in their darkest hours
For worlds of parrots and perpetual flowers.

Reviews

[davidmanchester]

Wonderful poem; all too timely.

[Vishuddha]

What a strong and marvelous poem! More memorable lines than I can count. I am longing, right now, for worlds of parrots and perpetual flowers and if I had a television I would throw it off the roof.