Slaves to the Media?

This wave of protest rolls unchecked
Polemics of all types connect:
Europe's colonial past long gone
The mood has changed, so has our song ...

Slave trader statues, Cecil Rhodes,
King Leopold – the mind implodes ...
Revisionism, so decried,
Assails us now – on every side ...

What's past is past, though we regret
The slave trade – it is with us yet
Injustice, lack of choice, poor schools
The slightest spark – and chaos rules ...

Yet those who make crime their career
Are not role martyrs, they breed fear ...
A whipped-up media goes off track
As not all coverage is fact ...

Rampant frenzy fills the streets
Repression widespread looting greets ...
We see the world through a new lens
But will this lead to kinder trends?

(c) Poet in the woods 2020

In No Uncertain Terms!

Uncertainty rules all our lives
So really, it is no surprise
That challenges upset our day
Paths, rock-solid, fall away.

BREXIT talks are bad enough;
Now Merkel finds the going tough!
Mugabe clings on, won't resign;
For the «Good Old Days» we pine!

But if, like Auntie BBC
We take «The Long View», we can see
That upheavals are the stuff of life
In global terms, there's always strife.

Opposing factions can't agree;
Riots and strikes will always be
A constant in this media scrum
The reporter's job is never done!

«Give Peace a chance»*, John Lennon said
Before Mark Chapman shot him dead ...
We fight for freedom, human rights
How the Devil in discord, delights!

(c) Poet in the woods 2017

Robert Mugabe resigned 21.11.2017
Angela Merkel - German Chancellor since 2005
John Lennon shot on 8.12.1980 - New York
* First recorded in July 1969.

At the American Women's Club of Brussels

Misty morn – Drève de Lorraine
A drive down beech tree aisle again
Lofty, russet, shimmering gold
Rich panoplies of leaves unfold...

1, Rue des Erables – that's Maple Street
Where U.S. ladies meet and greet
And now hold their bright Christmas Fair
Three floors of treasures made with flair.

Rich fabrics, carvings, jewelry wares
Pearls, books and artwork up the stairs,
Fine paintings showing Waterloo
Zimbabwe and Japan gifts too!

Cake mixes in large Kilner jars
Cute posters, loose tea, Christmas cards
Refreshments while kids take a look
At «Père Noël» in inglenook!

Creativity in many guises
A fun collection of surprises
An Aladdin's cave in all but name
No doubt next year I'll come again!

(c) Poet in the woods 2017

R.I.P. Another Cecil

Zimbabwe – last name on the list

Of Nations - harsh, dry and sun-kissed

Mecca of hunters and big game

Once had Rhodesia as its name.

 

(From Cecil Rhodes*, a pioneer

Whose deeds the Old Queen did revere),

On major trade routes lies, through hills

Where 16 tongues mean thrills and spills!

 

Independent now, it stands alone

 A savannah land where lions roam

With many dramatic natural features

A flight away from Southern beaches.

 

But politics aside, we read

A brand-new tale of death and greed

Wilful hunter, careful tread

And Cecil, the noble lion, lies dead...

(c) Poet in the woods 2015

* Cecil Rhodes, explorer (1853 - 1902)

historical note: Cecil the lion was killed by Walter Palmer, an American dentist and big-game hunter. The killing occurred in July 2015 in Zimbabwe. Cecil was lured out of Hwange National Park with an elephant carcass and wounded with an arrow by Palmer. He was then tracked and killed the next morning with a compound bow.