listening to the news
one really gets the blues
in all their great meetings
after cordial greetings
world leaders disagree
for one reason or other
seems they don’t really bother
‘bout what should be their goals
not to save their own souls
but the folks in our world
the children all curled
with pain in their belly
civilians burned dead
with gasoline jelly
the women attacked for
(a lack of) their clothing
as if there were nothing
more important than keeping
some men from their peeping
but what really matters
are the people in tatters
who flee from bombed homes
in despair and have come
to realize
that their possible demise
does not affect those
who’d rather smell a rose
than seriously bother
about the fate of an other
tragedy unfolds every day
yet it holds little sway
in the news of the powers
that makes sure that ours
is different from theirs
until that dream sours
we need to write some
more encouraging verse