The Human Pigsty
I contemplate humanity.
The human species remains an ocean of paradoxes,
A macrocosm of pride built upon cemeteries of suffering,
A wasteland praying to the light in order to worship darkness,
While feeding the shadows within its own fetid entrails.
Man erects loquacious cathedrals to speak to a morbid sky,
Yet turns the earth into a silent slaughterhouse.
He writes constitutions in the name of justice, peace, and liberty,
Then sells entire peoples
On the black market of indifference and hatred.
The imperialist empires have merely changed their costumes.
Yesterday, chains bore the color of iron,
Today they wear diplomatic ties
And advertising smiles
Behind the shop windows of carnivorous capitalism.
Nations speak of peace, equality, and fraternity
With hands still stained by oil and blood.
Vampires finance wars
Then organize humanitarian summits
To weep over the ruins they themselves created.
I contemplate the modern cities of the West,
Immense jungles of cold concrete where spirits die standing.
Millions of gazes cross paths without ever seeing one another,
Like hurried ghosts
Inside the electric arteries of progress and decadence.
Man walked upon the moon within the nightmares of a chimerical reality,
Yet remains incapable of loving his own brother
Without questioning his color, his language, his religion, and his origins,
Or the god he invokes
When the night crushes his chest.
The poor build the palaces
Where the rich celebrate their prosperity.
The worker exhausts himself to the bone
While shareholders grow fat
Inside the artificial paradises of global finance.
Children are born innocent,
But the world teaches them very early
The hierarchy of contempt,
The geography of humiliation,
And the obscene commerce of privilege.
Screens illuminate faces
While consciences slowly fade away.
This era confuses celebrity with greatness
And transforms human suffering
Into consumable entertainment.
I contemplate borders,
Those scars drawn by the powerful
To carve apart the dignity of peoples.
The same sun burns every skin,
Yet man still worships walls.
Prisons overflow with misery,
While the true predators
Dine beneath the chandeliers of respectable republics.
Justice sometimes walks blindfolded,
But money often serves as its guide.
Humanity claims to defend freedom
While monitoring every breath of its citizens.
Digital chains replace visible chains.
The modern world perfects confinement
Beneath the seductive makeup of comfort.
In the midst of the universal uproar,
There still remain beings who stand upright.
Women and men
Who refuse to sell their conscience
At the auctions of collective fear.
I contemplate these anonymous resisters,
These fragile guardians of human dignity.
They carry silent revolutions
Within their words, their acts, their refusals, their convictions, their transgressions,
Like embers hidden beneath the ashes.
Perhaps humanity will never be pure.
Perhaps man will forever remain this living paradox:
Capable of inventing beauty
In the very heart of barbarity,
And of bringing forth stars from the rottenness of the world.
Post Comments
Poetrysoup is an environment of encouragement and growth so only provide specific positive comments that indicate what you appreciate about the poem. Negative comments will result your account being banned.
Please
Login
to post a comment
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a
Premium Membership.
