Category: Global Issues

NaPoWriMo Day 18

On By WinstonIn Global Issues, Media, NaPoWriMo, Pandemic, Personal, Poetry, SocietyLeave a comment

With all the world facing the pandemic, I have been debating whether or not to write about it. This is my take on it.

On COVID 19

When things look bleak and we’re in fear,

Just know we will get through.

No matter how the deck looks stacked,

Believe we will get through.

Disease and death the headlines scream,

All wearing on your mind.

The news is all about this plague.

Keeps tearing at your mind.

Now it’s not safe to hug your friends,

Must stay two meters back.

When we most need that human touch,

Just stay two meters back.

When talking heads cannot agree,

On caution’s side should err.

And disregard the idiots,

Who without caution err.

So stay at home if possible,

The least that you can do.

And if you must go out stay safe,

The best that you can do.

But if you are essential then,

My thanks for all you do.

I pray you come through safe and sound,

Be blessed for all you do.

Now hold to this one truth I tell,

Just know we will get through.

When overwhelmed in heart and mind,

Believe we will get through.

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 13

On By WinstonIn Global Issues, Mars, NaPoWriMo, Science, Society, Technology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’m a huge fan of “Cosmos”, both the Nat Geo series with Neil Degrasse Tyson and the book by Carl Sagan. This poem is an ode to them and also to “The Mars Generation” and it’s founder Astronaut Abby.  Enjoy!

On Going to Mars

I walk across a dry, red plain,

Towards a distant hill.

My feet kick dust untrod ’til now,

Explorer’s greatest thrill.

 

The sun a dim and distant disc,

Seen through a reddish haze.

Upon this rock, so far from home,

Is where I’ll live my days.

 

They asked me why I’d want to go,

So far from all I know.

The answer is I’ve always known,

That I must someday go.

 

My soul was born to bear this dream,

To carry it afar.

I’ve carried it to Mars so far,

Some day, someone, some star.

 

You ask of us why would we go,

Truth is we cannot stay.

If we stay tied to just one place,

We’re bound to end one day.

 

But as we spread beyond the Earth,

Each falt’ring step we take,

Will buy our species one more chance,

A better world to make.

 

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 4

On By WinstonIn Education, Environment, Global Issues, NaPoWriMo, Nature, Personal Responsibility, Science, SocietyLeave a comment

Earlier I was watching TED/Ed as one does when they are at work. And I came across this talk by Xiye Bastida ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBeU6UZyPjY&feature=emb_title ). It inspired today’s offering.

On Xiye Bastida

I just believe she said to me,

as hope shone from her eyes.

I know you don’t, and that’s okay,

my dream fits every size.

 

For each good thing there is in life,

was once just someone’s dream.

Belief is what brings them to life,

hold it in high esteem.

 

Then as I saw the hope in her,

it kindled hope in me.

And as it grew I understood,

You must believe to see.

 

Now as I watch, a million more,

once more start to believe.

They share her dream and dare to hope,

it’s one we can achieve.

 

Every good thing that we have,

and every bad as well,

was once a dream in someone’s heart.

You never can quite tell.

 

Before you mock or just dismiss,

the dream she has to share.

Please understand, it’s not a plan,

Just asking you to care.

 

Now I believe. It’s not that hard.

But making dreams come true,

that takes an act of purest will,

and sacrifices too.

 

So I believe, take baby steps,

to build tomorrow’s world.

Inspired by the faith and dream,

Of this young, hopeful girl.

 

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 26

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Global Issues, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Poetry, Politics, Society, Values, Warfare1 Comment

I know that the sentiments in today’s poem probably won’t be popular with some people. That’s okay. I’m kinda used to people disagreeing with me. They have that right. Just don’t think that outrage is going to change the truth of my words here.

I would also like to point out that this is nothing to do with the fine people who wear the uniform in harms way. This is about the ones who send them out to bleed, break and die for no reason.

OUR ENDLESS WAR

Now sound the trumpet, beat the drum,

Cry war throughout the land.

The time has come to teach our foes,

The end is close at hand.

They do not think or act like us,

Barbarians or worse.

If they will not be more like us,

Their name shall be a curse.

If they would try, then they could be,

Just like us here at home.

But they refuse the gifts we bring,

So our troops we let roam.

To do with bullets and with bombs,

What words and cash can’t do.

Those who cling to their culture now,

Defiance they shall rue.

We preach of freedom only if,

They become just like me.

But if they won’t, then rubble mounds,

Will their whole nation be.

So woe betide the people who,

Their lives choose to defend.

We’ll murder, bomb and burn their lands,

In wars that never end.

Our cause is just, this is a fact,

Because we have said so.

But when the slaughter finally ends,

Was it? We’ll never know.

The ones we kill are gone it’s true,

But those we leave behind.

No counselling or help they get,

For broken, tortured mind.

They’ll wallow in the blood we’ve spilt,

From cradle to the grave.

When all you’ve known is blood and death,

To strike back is not brave.

The only lesson we have taught,

With all that we have done.

If you don’t like how someone lives,

Life’s cheap. Kill everyone.

We’ve proven that, you can’t force change,

There must be something more.

A way of peace and of respect,

Not endless, bloody war.

Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 22

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Global Issues, my blessed life, NaPoWriMo, Personal Responsibility, Poetry, Society, Uncategorized, ValuesLeave a comment

We often hear about the greed of the super rich. But the fact is, it’s most of us as well. We all see the poverty in our own communities and around the world, but so few step up to do anything about it. Instead of waiting for the rich to throw money at these problems or the government to fix them, it’s up to each of us. Today’s poem is about the low-level greed and despair that hold us back from a better world. Enjoy.

 

WE CAN BE THE CHANGE

Today I have enough to eat,

A roof over my head.

I turn a tap and water’s there,

I have a warm, safe bed.

 

Sometimes there’s things that I may want,

I’m sad I cannot get.

But then I try to realize,

They are not needs I bet.

 

So many live without enough,

To eat or even drink.

How spoiled am I to stress about,

Stuff I don’t need, I think.

 

It is the blessing and the curse,

Of where I live I guess.

We have so much, but want much more,

It makes our world a mess.

 

Why’s it so hard to understand,

There’s others need it more.

The money that I spend on whims,

Could truly help the poor.

 

Instead of doing all we can,

To help those most in need.

We drop our coin, to buy that thing,

And never think it’s greed.

 

No, greed’s a thing for CEOs,

Not folks like you and me.

The truth is we are just as bad,

On smaller scale you see.

 

We want to keep all that we make,

The same as rich folk do.

And get upset when strangers ask,

For cash from me and you.

 

We don’t want to be told the truth,

Reminded of the fact.

That we are just like all the rest,

Who know but will not act.

 

We get so overwhelmed when we,

Think of the problem’s scale.

But don’t forget that plankton feed,

The mighty baleen whale.

 

No runner ever starts the race,

Right at the finish line.

It’s all the steps that come between,

To victory incline.

 

So think on this, the smallest step,

We take is something more.

And even baby steps move us,

From where we were before.

 

Before you buy that shiny thing,

That just now caught your eye.

Give just a bit, it’s not that hard.

To help someone, just try.

 

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 20

On By WinstonIn Global Issues, NaPoWriMo, Personal, Personal Responsibility, Poetry, Science, Society, Technology, UncategorizedLeave a comment

My grandmother lived to be one hundred and four years old. She grew up in London, England in the late 1800s before moving to the prairies in Saskatchewan, Canada. She went from living in the bright center of the British Empire to living in a sod shack. The last time I saw her, she was talking about all the wonders she had seen over her lifetime. From steam engines to moon landings and from telegraphs to television. The pace of progress is even quicker now. Who knows what wonders we will see…

TOMORROW’S WONDERS

I travel ever on and on,

Through this strange place called life.

And lose myself in daily rounds,

Of sadness, joy or strife.

 

But every now and then I wake,

And look around in awe.

At miracles I see each day,

And then forget I saw.

 

A medicine that saves a life,

Last year was surely lost.

But we don’t see the miracle,

Just grumble at the cost.

 

A car that stops before it hits,

A person in the street.

Don’t care about the life it spared,

Just think, “That’s kinda neat!”

 

A human habitat in space,

Now orbits overhead.

Where scientists experiment,

While I I’m asleep in bed.

 

The pace of progress does not sleep,

It forges ever on.

As long as questions still get asked,

‘Til the last human’s gone.

 

Think back to when you were a child,

Now see the massive change.

Now see tomorrow and the next,

How beautiful and strange.

 

I know that it’s not guaranteed,

This future that I see.

But giving it a fighting chance,

Is down to you and me.

 

Try to consume a little less,

Give back a little more.

If we all do a little bit.

We’ll reach that golden shore.

 

So look around with open eyes,

At what we can achieve.

Now every one of us must build,

That future we believe.

 

Cheers, Winston

 

NaPoWriMo Day 15

On By WinstonIn Environment, Global Issues, NaPoWriMo, Nature, Poetry, Science, Society, Uncategorized, Values2 Comments

I know not everyone believes in the reality of climate change. I’ve read a lot on both sides of the question and to me it’s obvious that we’re having a huge impact on the planet. Wherever you sit on this debate, I hope you enjoy today’s poem.

OUR CHANGING WORLD

The climate’s changing very fast,

More than we thought it could.

The future’s looking different than,

Most of us thought it would.

 

I know there’s those who claim that all,

The climate data’s fake.

And nothing that is done by us,

Could any difference make.

 

But I have looked at this a lot,

And I just can’t agree.

The climate’s changing and the cause,

Comes down to you and me.

 

We love our cars, we love our trucks,

We love our SUVs,

We love to drive so who cares if,

They cut down all the trees.

 

We love our cities sprawling ‘burbs,

We’ll pave all of the farms.

And as we stand in flooded streets,

Claim we don’t cause these harms.

 

We’ve engineered some crops that can,

Both heat and drought resist.

But GMOs are “evil” so,

That research gets dismissed.

 

As millions starve because their land,

Can them no longer feed.

We let our surplus food just rot,

So much more than we need.

 

As deserts grow and forests shrink,

We multiply so fast.

‘Til all that’s left to eat is us.

Then see how long we last.

 

But disregard this poem ’cause,

It’s not what you would hear,

I’m just another scaremonger,

Who’s spreading pointless fear.

 

When the last lonely tree has died,

On dead and barren Earth.

Look then and see what we’ve done to,

The planet of our birth.

 

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo Day 6

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Global Issues, NaPoWriMo, Nature, Personal Responsibility, Poetry, Uncategorized, ValuesLeave a comment

As so often happens, I started this with nothing more than the opening line. There was no sense of narrative or where it was going. I find that some of my best writing is done that way. Let me know what you think 🙂

 

DREAMING TOMORROW

 

Now go to sleep and dream sweet dreams,

Of how the world will be.

Dream how we’ll make it better than,

The one that we now see.

 

A world where each and every one,

Loves who and how they will,

And those who disagree accept,

Instead of hate or kill.

 

Dream of world where all have food,

And somewhere warm to sleep.

Where “Helping”, “Caring” aren’t just words,

But promises we keep.

 

Now sleep my child and dream a world,

Where Nature’s free to thrive.

And humans understand their place,

‘Midst all that is alive.

 

Dream all these dreams and more my love,

But learn from us this fact.

To dream is fine but things won’t change,

Unless we choose to act.

 

Cheers, Winston

NaPoWriMo 5

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Environment, Global Issues, NaPoWriMo, Personal Responsibility, Self Awareness, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

THE FUTURE

We see a shape but dimly there

Not certain what we see.

Project on it our hopes and fears,

No clue what it will be.

 

A thing of beauty it may be,

Yet certain we are not.

It may be brutal or bizarre,

May prove ice cold or hot.

 

The problem is we cannot know

Until we reach that time.

If it will be a paradise,

Or childbirth a crime.

 

What we must now remember most,

It will be what we make.

Our children and their children shall,

Pay then, what we now take.

 

So live your life with one eye now,

With one the future seek.

And leave to them a dream we built,

Not nightmare dark and bleak.

 

Cheers, Winston

 

What Am I Doing?

On By WinstonIn Enlightenment, Global Issues, Poetry, Science, Society, ValuesLeave a comment

I mean really… What the heck am I thinking. I made it through April by the skin of my teeth, yet here I am writing another verse. Sometimes I really wonder about me.

 

Our Own Worst Enemy

Technology is not the foe,

it’s not your enemy.

That AI that you dread so much,

is far less threat than me.

 

The science that grows beef in labs,

and soy that bugs won’t eat.

Is building apps to help the blind,

and other needs to meet.

 

It’s not the tech that ends us all,

but what we do with it.

It’s our own inhumanity,

will make our future shit.

 

A hammer’s just a hammer and,

can’t care what it’s used for.

The person using it decides,

to build or start a war.

 

All tech comes down to this same choice,

that shapes our future days.

To kill or cure, to build or burn,

I pray we change our ways.

 

Cheers, Winston