the human condition poems

Society | Chris Byrne

Is the broken dream of a millionaire,
Or just the poor and downtrodden
Bravely attempting to live
While being bombed
To kingdom come?
A society of greed and debt
Forever keeping up with
The trends, bombarded with
Technologies, the new must haves
Slaves to advertising, money-driven
Ignoring the vulnerable and
Admiring the venerable
Whilst queuing for
Expensive coffee
They can’t stand.

Thinking | Chris Byrne

They ponder and wonder about
The impossible, always
Thinking about the unanswered
Questions, always doubting,
Sitting in silence, seeing all,
Saying nothing, just listening
To the quietness of life,
Attempting to understand
The realities of our vain
Existence, pondering,
Wondering, looking
For answers to
Non-existent
Questions.

No One Listens | Ananya S. Guha

There is a half stutter
mutter
when bees drone
you are alone
only the dogs whine,
you think they are mine
and the cats are as ever sullen, ambling across
and you see the rainfall
as windows glisten
here in a country
where no one can listen…

Zoos in Action | Ananya S. Guha

Have I followed the rules
to be human,
artful enough, skilled
to walk roads on water,
smell the ether?
Have I
detonated a bomb
meant to kill me and the rest,
stored explosives
in rooms for the next revolution,
wept for people flayed alive?
Mourned enough in polka-dotted shirts or cars?
In streets lined with hyenas
mocking revolution — of
zoos in action.

A Race against Time | Judy Moskowitz

Humanity is a cruel
And painful hangnail
The body snatchers
Hunting the innocent
A long funeral procession
As wolves cry
And elephants mourn
Those running for positions
Of power
The monotone lie
That keeps repeating
Like a drone
We are hypnotized
A herd of sheep
Genetically altered
Babies drowning
In shallow waters
Being used as props
Hanging from the necks
Of those with burnt flesh
A reminder to our conscience
Change is a coin
Not a noun

Times Lost | Chris Byrne

Words spoken in anger
Decisions made in haste
Never knowing or realising
Words hurt; time repairs
Those spoken in time
Never speaking of the pain
That broke time
When worlds ceased
To exist. 

Table Talk | Ananya S. Guha

Take this out, this spite, this hatred, this venom, take out those
guns, don’t spit fire in a messy world, talk to the child, ever so
mildly, wrench books out of hand oh unforgiving masters, dispense with justice, don’t split the atom, talk about disarmament in closeted rooms
sign papers and let the table talk rant mercifully.

Sanskrit | Roger Still

Facing a cave wall, some eggheads
Considered the etchings and characters
Left behind by ancient architects
They must have had something in common
Head, heart, lust, recipes?
But their faces are long buried
Beneath tides of earth and moss
Someday, they will be in a museum
Someday perhaps, they shall be truly rediscovered…

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