If our mission is a more humane society…
(something, one day, on which I hope we’re all agreed)
Then we should be protecting, caring and rescuing
anyone in need.
We should be making a better world for everyone we meet
everyone we see…
Doing our best to end homelessness, misery,
suffering and cruelty.
This is actually the mission of the Humane Society…
every day that’s what they strive to do…
but their mission is the humane treatment of animals…
It seems to me we need a humane society
who’s mission is the humane treatment of people…too.
Along the wind I wander around,
In search of one true, honest sound.
Through valleys deep and frosty mount,
I chase an echo so rarely found.
On lofty peaks, kept high and round,
Where selfdom rests, then firmly crowned.
The clouds descend, now losing ground,
As humility strikes, strong and bound.
All hearts are humane, truly profound,
Till vanity’s veil is fully drowned.
(Sappho and Leuceus drunk,fighting over who invented the Stanza)
Lesbos howls with song and mgosi tonight,
Leuceus thumbs the table-claims my Stanza his,
I toss my hair,sip the sqo,my daughter lightning-
Let Ogun decide!
He stutters of meters,I of love divine,
He waves his laptop,I smash my Zamalek beer glass to silence
The gods choke at their peptic ulcers-
Mami Wata takes sides.
Tomorrow the'll call me fallen,sinner,muse of rain,
But in their shame,they'll still steal my rhythm,
He'll drown in envy's cup,Ill wake to babalazi
Makoti sing my song
Explanation of words
mgosi-gossip
sqo-as in traditional beer
Zamalek: Black Label Carling beer
Ogun: The god of war
mami wata:mother of water is a symbol of beauty and that's all men want to hear
babalazi-a massive hangover
makoti- ''Maak ons tee'' in Afrikaans meaning ''Make us tea''.This is what will happen to school dropouts;just think about the fate of this one: a young married woman supervised by a grumpy old woman who complaints about anything under the son.
Human nature, a mercurial being.
Individualistic, out-of-place souls.
Searching for answers but not truly seeing:
Their beauty within, burning like white-hot coals.
At times, so gentle..with empathy so pure.
Emitting radiance, a kind of allure.
Calling the masses, the meek, to surrender.
Healing hidden shadows, blessed defender.
Human nature, a mercurial being.
Overrun and overcrowd. Stuffed to the gills.
Innocent victims. Run. Terrified. Fleeing.
Maniacal laughter follows, gives chills.
Warmongers, detached. So blinded by their greed.
Were they born to hate? Or do we plant the seed?
Empty hearts in an empty shell. They're feeding.
No love for those they hurt. Left behind, bleeding.
*'What I love-What I Hate' Double Rispetto Poetry Contest
*Sponsored by: Tom Woody
*Entered on: 9/30/25
Don't brawl
Love all
Place : 10
She's a two edge sword--
who wheels profound believes.
Thus, sashays
with Viking's valor
and intuitive ease.
She's been known
to bend, near break--
shading discarded leaves;
From harsh, scolding droughts
or debar's frost-bite freeze.
She's no puppet-master and
certainly ain't--angst's puppet, hung.
Who submissive questions,
cowardly answers, bows, then scurrys,
when her strings are tugged.
She's that avid eagle,
with freedom's rein to soar.
Her nest--it never tethers,
with knowledge's thirst,
explores.
The world, it's but
her pearly oyster,
with every venture,
craves to seek
and conquer more.
Revisit....
cherished moments,
to blur.....
angst's poisonous
stinging torments.
For just one life,
we have to live.
Those blessed
bliss with less,
while wholehearted give.
Dig only until your fingers can reach,
don't fall face down into the ground,
you're not soil yet
Extend your hands only until warmth is still home,
don't deplete yourself of what you give,
even stars die a cold death
Build your fences only until their faces are friends'
don't reach for the sun,
you'll only burn yourself
Sing to the gods only until your voice is air
don't meddle with hands
religion isn't only yours to reclaim
Guard your walls only until the soldiers are rivals
don't stick your guns at every gate
not all neighbors are villains
Count the waves only until the sea waves back
don't wait for the sun to sink
your boat is holed of your own feet
Rush back home on more than weekends
don't fit love into tight routines,
time doesn't entertain belated guests
Love until your bones are soil
don't worry about bills and gods
humane is the best you can.
If tree’s always tree
And beast forever a beast,
Why’s man humane not?
Perhaps his intellect’s caught
On wings of whether or not.
As to his trouble,
He, no more than a bubble,
Thinks he’s all of sea,
And his ego’s dark imprint
Has dulled his human instinct.
___________________________
Tanka Nov 2023 men, humanity
powerless creek creaks
unable pond pondering
sun shimmering hope~
a nuturing nature hails
chilly issue jiffy freeze
Be it kings, commoners no less,
Know, humanness is not in dress.
In rage nor yet is it in love,
A raging sage has it no less.
Words nor manners make any case,
In kindness, not in mere embrace.
Not oft traced in a holy place,
In act, not just in kindly face.
Faced on Judgment Day upon death,
It’s not in lifetime’s tall address.
It is in lifelong commitment,
Not when life breaks for short recess.
It's not something in an oath to confess,
Humane to be, not else is humanness.
_________________________________
Ghazals |06.01.2023| humanity
Calculating bravery, designing a plan
To conquer fear and rise above it
Emotions running high, sweat on the skin
Genetic alphabets, a faulty concealment
Pulsing circuitry, a universal connection
Astrological bees, preparing for inception
To overstand this world is not to be sane
But to demand respect, with a brush of humane color.
Who says God is invisible?
Haven’t you ever seen a child smiling with its wide open mouth?
Behind the innocent smile, you can find His move.
Innocence is God.
Who says God is invisible?
Haven’t you ever seen the hands extending alms?
Behind the hands, you can find the aura of God.
Charity is God.
Who says God is invisible?
Haven’t you ever seen the service offered to a suffering soul?
Behind the service, you can see the charm of God.
Service is God.
Who says God is invisible?
Haven’t you ever seen the friends embracing each other?
Behind the pure hearts,you can find the love of God.
Purity is God.
Who says God is invisible?
Haven’t you ever seen a Guru teaching his disciple?
Behind every truth, you can find His blessings.
Humility is God.
Why all this?
Humane is Divine.
Placed : 5th
Where is God hiding Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Unseeking Seeker
Date: 25-08-2022
In God’s own world so humane once
Blood flows thick as incensed streams
Bullets rip through the buds of dream
The homeless drift as alien discards
Terror flares up in the fanatic hearths
Lives mutilated by despicable instincts
People plunge in cesspool of vice and sin
Dislodged empathy finds its way astray
Morality defaced by harsh intolerance
Kinship disintegrates in abhorrence.
In God’s own world so beautiful ever
The sun rises in multi-color grandeur
The ocean embraces the golden shores
The sky sparkles with moon and stars
The rains shower the music of clouds
The forest makes scenic emerald lattice
The river takes land’s essence to the sea.
The children born to inhabit the world
Still smile and play merrily in the field
God is not tired of the humankind yet
He will make the world humane again.
__________________
May 29, 2022
For A Brian Strand Premiere Contest
Fire gave us power right at the door,
Farming made us hungry for more,
Money gave us ungoverned greed,
And science, such a deadly breed!
Our brief his’try from beastly apes
To species that learnt spoken word,
Sovereign that rules the whole world,
Then back to brutes that Ma Earth rapes.
One step perhaps from back to caves,
His’try repeats from birth to graves,
On verge of destroying our dome,
Back to base, a full round to roam!
__________________________________
Inspired by the book: ‘Sapiens’, Brief History of Humankind, by Yuval Noah Harari, humankind, yes human but never humane. So, let me just call them Homo-sapiens.
Introspection |18.06.2021|
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