Change
What have you read?*This is the draft referred to in the last post that I had saved. It was the poem above I couldn't find, somewhat essential.
What have you believed?
What can I tell you?
Will it make you care?
What have I read?
What have I believed?
Do I care? If
You can save your mother,
Will you do it? If
You can save the world,
Will you do it? If
You can save a child in Africa,
Will you do it? How
Will you know who is suffering?
We don't want to see
The starving,
The refugee,
The death of war,
The evil of corruption.
It cannot go unseen.
It must be changed.
The world must change.
You must change.
I got a thing in the mail from Poetry.com asking if I'd like to make a submission for a new book of poetry. No, this doesn't mean I'm a gifted poet who could make money from some perceived talent. Not at all. Generally I think it means anyone who writes what could loosely be called a poem, and posts it on their site (which I have done before with my other poems), will at some point have their "poetic talent recognised and considered for inclusion in one of the most important volumes of poetry ever produced". I think those most important volumes come out every couple of months, each obviously more important than the last.
Anyway, on receiving their letter asking if I wanted to be included in the next life-changing volume of poetry, I wrote this poem and sent it in. It was a spur of the moment poem. I guess the proposed name of the volume was wishy-washy and feel-good, evoking images of a glossy cover featuring either kittens, flowers, cute babies or a gag-inducing combination of all three. I wasn't in that mood. I don't think the poem really carries anything particularly thought-provoking, and upon reading it again, I don't like it that much, but they were some of the my first thoughts when I wondered, 'will people think about things that really matter?'
I had forgotten about it until it was returned to me this week to check and sign off on its publication. But instead of returning it to them, it's posted here, and here it stays.
the earley edition - Posted by Dave @ 8/15/2004 12:45:00 pm || ||
