Wealth

[nrt]

Cathedrals in their pockets
NRT

The climate got much better,
Disease still took a few,
But, they made a surplus every year,
So, the population grew.

Draw up a plan
Mark out the ground
Cut some stone
Assemble a workforce

They are still there; in Egypt and in Mexico,
Jerusalem, India, Rome…
Their surplus, spent on dreams and corpses,
Or, to give the king another home.

Well, wouldn't you like to be remembered?

The climate got no better,
Now a restless spirit blew,
Home life got harder every year,
They coveted pastures new.

Draw out a campaign
Tear up the map
Cut the talking
Assemble an army

Standing now in France and Burma,
Natal, Halabja, Wounded Knee…
Memorials to bloody, severed, lives,
Did they die for you, or me?

But, for how long will you be remembered?

The climate doesn’t bother them,
If it’s bad then they can sue,
New distraction is just a flight away,
Boundless surplus, for a few.

Draw the blind
Mark out a mansion
Cut the crap
Assemble your fortune.

Where do you stand on the rich or celebrity,
Entrepreneur, banker, first born son…
Those visionaries, with our cathedrals in their pockets,
Who say this is just how the world must run?

OK, what do you want to be remembered for?

Why isn’t the climate getting better?
Why does prejudice still grow?
Why don’t our distractions make us happy?
Why do they reap what we sow?

Draw up a plan
Tear up the map
Cut the crap
Assemble the future

Then we may be worthy of remembrance.

[jeannerené]

nrt,

Thank you for posting.

I re-read several times ... simply just to try and take in the full measure of what you are saying here more than once and just pass on ....

This is an extremely powerful poem .... which makes me look in the mirror at my own complacency and acceptance of "that just the way things are, what can I do about it" ....

Excellent write ... not a word wasted. Thank you for stirring the soul and the mind.

jeanne

[nrt]

Hi jeanne,

First let me say it's good that you are back! Refreshed?

As you can see I am still ranting on, but I can't help it as I become an even grumpier old man...

I can understand why you did not get much sense out of the poem at first; where, but poetry, could you cover all of civilisation's culture, conflict and greed in a few lines and try to make a point.

I have tried to write stories, to get some of my ideas down, and end up rambling - yet they seem to take shape and distill out in a poem in a way I don't fully understand. Very odd.

The other thing is that I hear me saying the poem and realise that some of the meaning is in the way the poem is read - the word 'visionaries' for example, I thought long and hard about italisising it or putting it in quotes, to make it more obvious it was meant ironically -  is it clear enough without? In the end I felt I would be being too much of a control freak, to try to impose meaning.

Anyway, its good to have a place to post, thanks for making the effort to get back up. I might even cheer up a bit, the sun's out...

N

[jeannerené]

nrt .... lol... I re-read several times because your poem made so much sense and because I simply wanted to take in what you were saying more than just once.  It is an excellent and timely write. I appreciate you posting it here....

Yes .... I believe I am refreshed .... and yes, the sun is out ... always a good sign!
 

[nrt]

Thanks - I'll try not to add hypersensitivity to grumpiness 

N

[vulcan13]

This is great. I'm not much of an analyst, but honestly at first I though It was about like the Catholic church, but by the end of the poem I could tell it is not. It expresses a lot of powerful views which I agree with, but it expresses them very eloquently. Bravo!

[nrt]

Thanks Vulcan - LLAP

N

[maipenrai]

a good powerful write, nowt wrong with grumpy old men, i should know lol