I Can’t Breathe!
through the looking lens wickedness unfolds
wriggling complicit in my comfort seat
knee on neck, agony again and yet again
bearing down, my heavy conscience scolds
weaponise my wringing hands and weary feet
palpitations pump pulsating pain
I Can’t Breathe! so come up for some air
mighty rivers meeting, hunger each day
mayhem ascending, cultural collision
colonial legacy lingering on
averting our gaze, look the other way
child soldiering, civil war, ethnic division
grinning genocide, our sanity gone
I Can’t Breathe! so come up for some air
sniff the biblical swamp, killing on repeat
horror over horror, hope bleeding to the sea
barbed wire settlement, failing, wailing walls
holocaust haunting compassion’s defeat
sacrificing kids, the altar of global decree
wagering ten eyes for one, imagination stalls
I Can’t Breathe! so come up for some air
gasp, clinging on to a very small boat
wake of a big ship, drowning pools swirl
churn of slow thinking, angry exiteers
division and borders, tyrants taking note
alliances stumbling eastward, flags unfurl
consequence looming, the dictator cheers
I Can’t Breathe! so come up for some air
prodding the bear and its throwback master
dispensing poison from his enormous table
peninsular folding and the stakes are high
full scale invasion follows dithering disaster
man child cuddling monster, each other enable
red carpet handshake, wisdom flying by
I Can’t Breathe! so come up for some air
imperial ambition, rusting vengeful minds
traffic jam of tanks becomes a sitting duck
butchers still reaching those who can’t run
drone-eye seeking, missiles of sinister kinds
innocence trapped, maybe surviving on luck
dying for us, they were once children of fun
I Can’t Breathe! so come up for some air
smelling the deal, peace dividend’s spent
fixing the deck in this appeasement game
shirts and ties packing the president’s room
humiliating a hero who came and then went
demand for apology, cruel, cringing and lame
old cock crows, impending theatre of doom
I Can’t Breathe! so come up for some air
warming world, let’s be first, drill, baby drill!
hefty hurricanes, melting ice and forest fires
special prize for idiots not counting the cost
robbing the poor, feed the rich, fill, belly fill!
polluters not paying for agregeous desires
islands submerging, much more to be lost
I Can’t Breathe! so come up for some air
whiff of hypocrisy, social contracts breaking
pulling the rug from the old and the young
bright corridor death, long levy on learning
empathy weakens, the foundations shaking
amplifying algorithms speak with forked tongue
responsibility shifts, twisting and turning
I Can’t Breathe! so come up for some air
obliterating henchmen, extreme ayatollah
the gods busy fighting on so many fronts
the might of right replacing mankind’s forum
trading rule of law for transactional payola
territorial dreaming, action movie stunts
masquerading leaders, diminished decorum
I Can’t Breathe! so come up for some air
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