Monday, September 10, 2012

An Open Mind

Open your mind
They say and yet
The don't see
The little child
Crying at their feet,
Stomach distended
From Hunger,
Having not eaten
For two days.

Open your mind
They say and yet
They don't see tracts
Of forest being destroyed
For Palm Oil and Bovine
Production, wild life and
Exotic vegetation leveled off,
Not thinking for once
That the cure for our diseases
Reside in those same forests.

Open your mind
They say and yet
They turn away from
Countries fighting themselves
Humanity stripped away
And all the combatants see
Are the enemy, not
Someone's child,
Someone's father.
All they see is a concept
Not someone of flesh and bone,
Just like them.

Open your mind
They say and yet
They can't see beyond
Their petty desires,
Their petty concepts
And find something
More profound,
More real than anything
They have ever encountered.
Open your mind
They say and yet
They close their eyes,
They close their ears,
And sadly,
They close their hearts.

So before you beseech
Someone to open their minds
Ask yourself if your own mind is open?
Wouldn't it be grand if we all had
An open mind.

9 comments:

Brian Miller said...

honest...i like the compassion from where this comes and i think it is something we have to constantly check ourselves on...

Kimolisa said...

Thanks for the your thoughts on this piece, it was the topic for one of the local open mic and this was the result.

Mary said...

Your message definitely resonates here. I think before we can tell others how to live or what to think about we have to look inside ourselves to see if OUR minds are open!

Jennifer Wagner said...

There is much to see in our world--opening our eyes and minds, hopefully, will inspire us to act when we do.

Anonymous said...

smart calling, we open our eyes to see the world, to understand things...

Brian Miller said...

that is pretty cool that it came out of an open mic...have only ever been to one that had a topic and that was for Black History Month...

Unknown said...

Throughout this poem is a dissatisfaction with what is often seen as progress.

A sentiment I share.

Nefariousx said...

I thought this was a powerful message, and well written. Thank you for sharing it.

Anonymous said...

Profound and beautiful!

 
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