The Circle of Life: The Crocodile's Verse

The Circle of Life: The Crocodile's Verse 

Come little fishes
Adore our golden scales
And smile
It's easy to flit between our claws
To grasp the tidbits...dangled
So enticingly out of reach
I dare you.

And if you fail
You should have swum faster
And if you fall
We will crush you

Come little fishes
Imagine your scales turned to gold
And rejoice
Our riches could be yours
If you work forever
Or win the lottery
We rigged just for you

And if you fail
You should have worked harder
And if you fall
We will crush your family

Come little fishes,
Cry all you like
We don't need to make the water drinkable
Your tears overflow our crystal glasses
We don't need to have the water wadeable,
When sweet oils fill our swamps to overflowing

And if you drown
You should have grown lungs
And if the rivers should fail
We will eat our fill

Come little fishes,
Not much longer now,
Offer your puny lives
And we will give you
Everlasting
Death

A.J.

Part of my Circle of Life series, this began as a simple poem, but keeps on growing. We can do better, we can bring voices to the table, create a more equitable world, but not when we incentivise people to look after money and not people.

1) The Circle of Life
We have let the snakes 

Into the hen house...

2) Circle of Life II (Snakes in the Henhouse)
Too long
We left the snakes in charge of the henhouse...

3) Circle of Life 3: The facts of life
I know you've heard
There's a new snake pimped out on the lawn...

But however dark it may look, there's hope on the horizon. What do they always say?  "it's always darkest before the dawn" Of course in the physical world, we don't all need to battle against the night to have the return of day, but this is a metaphor here...

Have a great week
A.J. Ponder

Dear Captain America

Pardon me, but your sword and shield are trampled in the dirt
they're a little broken,
a little rusty perhaps
but I know you can dust them off
and mend the cracks

I don't mean to intrude, but we're all being squashed by a golden elephant
maybe it's rude
not to all love gold and all
but the shit is toxic
and it only helps itself to the ball

My apologies, I know it's a hero thing, but really, do you have to
exhaust all alternatives
before doing the right thing?
surely the small problem of climate change
is enough embroiling?

So, please, if you wouldn't mind, my dearest, and most influential friend
pretty, pretty please
let the vote ring out fair and free
and mend your broken sword and shield
of justice and of liberty.

No need to hurry you, or anything, but children are dying
the air is poisoned
and the water too
but the problem can be fixed-
the only question is-
will you?


A.J. Ponder

Apologies for the couple of weeks off, had a touch of a seasonal cold, it's coming up to autumn here, but now the cicadas are out, the sun is shining, and it's been a surprisingly nice couple of days after a bit of a cold front and parts of the country under water.
Wishing everyone well, especially the kids who are fighting against climate change, for a better world http://www.ecowatch.com/trump-climate-change-lawsuit-2307504755.html

A.J.

Globalism vs Corporatism

We are
the people of this world

We could
join together

To gain
basic Human Rights

We can't survive
without clean Food and Water

We shouldn't have to fight
for health and happiness

The globalization of human rights
should be our goal

But the corporate lie
pulls us apart

Makes us fight over the scraps
of their bloated table
 
They pay the corrupt
to distract us

They pay the corrupt
to make laws against us

They pay the corrupt
to rule over us

They say we're too small to change the world
but we must

One human at a time
one step at a time

We must think globally, act globally,
because the corporates are already global

We must fight globally and stand globally
because one,
by one,
the corporates would have us
fall.

A.J. Ponder

By using the word "globalization" to mean "corporate globalization" the very corporations it is meant to implicate have managed to steer the conversation and scare us into fighting against the very people we should be supporting. It's designed to prevent us from thinking about how to make the world a better place, and instead focus on scapegoating the victims of the oppressors whose greed has turned our world inside out, in search for oil, in search of gold, in search of power. But we can do something about it. We can join grassroots organisations (organizations if you're American) that promote #HumanRights,  #democracy, and the environment.
 
And the message for today is "Democracy is not a spectator sport - tag you're it." From, (of all places) The Big Picture RT.   Not that I'd recommend them as a news source, given the Russian connection. If you're going to get your news from only one place I'd suggest Amy Goodman's Democracy Now, specifically The War and Peace Report.

The Art of Modern Warfare with Words

They shall frame you,
then they shall destroy you,
mark my words,
there is no middle ground.

First they demonised the poor
for the crimes of the rich
Then they demonised the Muslims,
to steal oil
Now they're framing the Jews
with an old lie,
an evil lie
to stop you from seeing the whole picture.

They shall frame you,
then they shall destroy you,
mark my words,
brushstrokes matter.
 
We, the people,
are not the threat
The threat is the obscene voice
of corporations
A voice that has corrupted
the politicians
A voice that has corrupted
the media
A voice that
calls to your fears
and twists them.

Once they've framed you,
then they shall destroy you
Mark my words
the fight is now,
or not at all
As the media bows to
the narrative,
their integrity as
bought and sold as the politicians
receiving tobacco PAC cheques
on the house floor.

They shall frame you,
then they shall call you violent
and place the gun
They shall accuse you of the crimes
they have committed
They shall pay a pittance
and take everything -
water
freedom
your very life
and when there is nothing left,
they will blame you.

So please break the frame 
before it destroys you
Mark my words,
there is no middle ground -
unless you stand up -
unless you say no -
unless you yell the truth
like the smallest Who in Whoville.
Please make a noise,
just a yip or a squeak,
because
you are
our only hope.

They shall frame you,
then they shall destroy you
Mark my words,
the fight is now
or not at all.


A.J. Ponder



There is a companion poem for this piece, published 5 years ago, it's called Perspective.  http://anafflictionofpoetry.blogspot.co.nz/2011/03/tuesday-poem-perspective.html

So how is your world being framed?

1. Lying by Omission
2. Controlling the Debate
3. Scripting and Synchronizing News
4. Politicizing Everything  
5 Chasing and creating buzzwords and memes
6. Asking the Wrong Questions
7. Closing down the topic - or airing it like the birther conspiracy long after it was dead.
8 Triviality and Distraction
9. Outright Lying


It's time to fight for our rights #noDAPL #livingwage #HumanRights #sustainability #eco #climatechange #change #education #green #impact #peace #democracy #defundDAPL #PoliticalPrisoner #environment #pollution #climate #globalwarming #solar

Peace Out :)

A.J. Ponder

Vertical by A.J. Ponder

When you're digging down
to the bedrock of belief
the truth is hard to hide
and easy to misrepresent

When the slope is vertical,
there are no handholds
and little water to soften
the fall

No one can deny the majesty,
of the view -
it's just the little matter 
of the cost

When, for almost nothing
we can hug a tree
in a horizontal forest,
and taste the rain


Bit late for Tuesday - but I am busy, busy, busy, it's just that time of year. Lilly Lionheart and the Labyrinth of Doom is close...very close, just the last, last, last edits. And I got a little distracted, the world is facing some seriously exciting prospects, people planning to end extreme poverty in our lifetime, and just as this amazing goal seems almost within reach...

Countries like India are frustrated that too much time and money has been misspent on vertical programs that only tackle one, or very few diseases, drawing money away from much needed health projects. They've had enough, and want co-ordinated projects that tackle the diseases and conditions that most affect their populations. They're calling for horizontal programs (water and primary care), and an end to being bullied into Western disease of the week agendas. So I'm keen to put a little money where my mouth is, but it's hard work finding the perfect charity....good enough will have to do.  It's all anyone can do.   

7 water charities: because water is life, and clean water will save more lives than almost anything else we can do. http://www.goodnet.org/articles/1000


http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/about-us/history-principles

for checking out your "perfect" charity (already set to "save the children") http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=search.summary&orgid=4438#.VhzyoSst540

Any ideas or suggestions welcome. 
Have a fantastic week!
A.J.

This week - working toward Waste Not

This week, I'm working on a new piece - Waste Not - although I admit several other titles did jump to mind. WastE NotE being one of them. Too much. Yes, obviously. But you know...too much waste is kind of the problem.

There have certainly been some interesting advances, discoveries when it comes to recycling.

People are looking at obtaining gold and precious metals from sewerage, and of course drinking water is a precious resource that many cities have been recycling for years.


Turning food waste into glass is newish, although banana skins and sugar cane have long had the fiber within used as a strengthening agent instead of fiberglass because of the weight savings. And to be honest to me it seems an interesting experiment, but possibly not the best use possible for food scraps.

It's interesting that waste and energy are two of our biggest problems, so it will be equally interesting to see how (and if) the advances in each field will compliment the other. It seems some countries are even importing waste for that purpose!

The video? Bill Gates swigging down some recycled water  :)

So yes, apologies, but poems at this time of the year are slow...

(Links)
Gold/precious metals: http://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/mar/23/gold-in-faeces-worth-millions-save-environment
Glass: http://ceramics.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Cover-Story_Aug14.pdf
Water etc: http://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/jan/20/turning-human-waste-into-drinking-water
Energy: http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/jun/14/norway-waste-energy

Blue Sky Optimism

So you can gaze
Across the sewage bilge
Across the rotton core of filth
that stains the sky
the land
the sea
and every drop of
water
poured from every tap
from every river mouth
from every gurgling stream

And you want more?

A.J. Ponder

hope everyone is having fun, and see you next week
cheers,
A.J.

A.J. Ponder's books are available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, Paper Plus and good Wellington bookstores.

Down on the Shore by William Allingham

Down on the shore, on the sunny shore!
Where the salt smell cheers the land;
Where the tide moves bright under boundless light,
And the surge on the glittering strand;
Where the children wade in the shallow pools,
Or run from the froth in play;
Where the swift little boats with milk-white wings
Are crossing the sapphire bay,
And the ship in full sail, with a fortunate gale,
Holds proudy on her way;
Where the nets are spread on the grass to dry,
And asleep, hard by, the fishermen lie,
Under the tent of the warm blue sky,
With the hushing wave on its golden floor
To sing their lullaby.

Down on the shore, on the stormy shore!
Beset by a growling sea,
Whose mad waves leap on the rocky steep
Like wolves up a traveller's tree;
Where the foam flies wide, and an angry blast
Blows the curlew off, with a screech;
Where the brown sea-wrack, torn up by the roots,
Is flung out of fishes' reach;
And the tall ship rolls on the hidden shoals,
And scatters her planks on the beach;
Where slate and straw through the village spin,
And a cottage fronts the fiercest din
With a sailor's wife sitting sad within,
Hearkening the wind and the water's roar,
Till at last her tears begin. 

Idly looking for fairy poems for my Fairy Portal - and poems about the beach -  after all it is that kind of weather.  This poem seems so perfect, although it doesn't have fairies at all - but it is by William Allingham and that's magical enough.  I just love the way the poem seems so sweet - and ends on a storm.

The picture is of a boat at Days Bay in lovely weather.  I hope everyone is enjoying the New Year as much as I have been - still it's back to work.  So much to do.   Enjoy!

A.J. Ponder 

 A.J. Ponder's work is available through Rona Gallery, Amazon, and good Wellington bookstores