Sunday, August 1, 2010

What do I care for Change...



All I care for now is to live
To find the place from where
The next meal for my children
Will come; All I care is for the
Few pots of water that I have to
Walk miles for; through burning lands
To slake the family’s raging thirst;
All I care for is those pieces of coal
Live coals on my heart
For they are hard-earned; Earned
By my eight year old daughter
After playing hanky-panky with
That aging, soul-less engine-driver

No… I no longer care
For your politics and causes
I have been to enough rallies
And protests, waiting endlessly
Mind, heart and spirit numb
Under the ruthless, blazing sun
All to no avail; for I still struggle
Just as my grandmother did
And before that hers.
Nothing has changed one bit…
What then do I care for Change.

I no longer care for the system
That has bled us and fed off
Our dying bodies; stripped off us
The lands of our forefathers
And parceled and sold them off
Chunk by chunk into the hands
Of new Big thieves; so much so
Now we don’t even know who they are
At least the old Landlords threw us
Pieces of chewed up bones now and then
But these new corporate thieves
Live, if at all they are human,
In far-away lands; never to be seen
Only felt in the marrow of our bones.

No… I no longer care.
All I care for now is to live
And be left alone to our fate.
I will take my chances
With the Fates;
It can't be worse than
Waiting for Change...

6 comments:

  1. Oh my God, this is so powerful, Maya! It says it all EXACTLY as it is and needs to be said.It gets tiresome listening to all the Talking Heads blathering on about tehcnicalities when what is needed is ACTION, just simple direct easing of peoples' burdens. The corporate monster has stripped us bare. This is one of the best poems I have ever read. Keep writing!

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  2. @Sherry: thank you so much Sherry! Yes this is exactly what many of the women feel in the villages... but I think it has begun to become a universal feeling now...

    and with this kind of encouragement I feel more fired to write...

    once again, thank you.

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  3. DO keep writing! You write powerfully. I'll keep visiting:)

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  4. You speak so eloquently for those who are unable to, Maya! My friend Sherry advised me to check out your brilliant writing and I'm so glad I did. Yours is a voice that deserves to be heard... I will come back to visit soon...

    Lynette

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  5. @Lynette: thank you, Lynette... i could definitely do with this kind of encouragement ! :)

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  6. Dear Maya,
    It takes a special writer to put on paper the unspoken fervent hopes and despair of others. Well done!

    And thank you for visiting...Together, our words will hopefully bring about change.

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