Tag: humanity

The Futility And Helplessness

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The futility and helplessness sets the kettle to boil 
And I wouldn’t be a daughter of this soil 
If the tragedy of conflict didn’t run in my veins 
And if I didn’t understand their pains
As they’re bombed into an oblivion 
How do I forgive them 
For what they don’t know they do 
When they are crucifying you 
For all they want to gain 
Because of the mechanics of their pain
As it spins round and round 
And delivers verdict without a sound 
Only the deafening quiet of thunder
Another neighbourhood going under
To the sound of crush
And the people rush
To see who they can save
As western civilisation cave
Under the weight of its own oppression
And every truth seems like a confession 
We make in the dark 
And we scroll past the things that leave a mark
And I watch young men in suits 
Brush past the truth
Like it is an inconvenient stare 
That they don’t want to admit is there 
When they don’t want it to be 
And if the Mediterranean Sea
Is the only place you can find solid ground
You know the silence has been lost in sound

The Place That We Meet

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Why do I get to sit by my fire
While the people in the Middle East tire
Of being ignored by the Western world
And I’m just a girl 
What difference can I make 
I am not one to shake 
Out the tree 
Of indignity 
And revolutionise 
The way the hope dies
And the children, the children, the children bleed
And I know that all they need
Is some warm food in their bellies
No waiting til after dinner to give them jellies
And there’s a protest dying 
Somewhere a mother is crying 
Over her son 
And I wish I could be the one 
To soothe the pain 
But the rain 
Doesn’t fall when you need it to 
We are told there’s nothing we can do 
As the educated eejits make bombs of war
I don’t know what it’s for 
If not to destroy 
How can you teach a boy
That he shouldn’t push that button red
But the temptation overcomes instead
Because to expand your land 
Is the fuel to the demand 
Of a heart never satisfied 
I don’t know but I think that the truth died

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Ripped From His Mother’s Arms

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I watch the Palestinian children die
And why do I get to cry
When their eyes are dry 
And a parent weeps over the corpse 
While soldiers laugh with no remorse 
And the commanders drop another bomb
Where has our humanity gone 
Do we not see ourselves in the other 
See our sister and brother 
In every battered storm front of war 
And I just look at her
And see the death that I know
The pain life has visited upon me slow
That must be experienced by the masses
Or as they’re designated - the lower classes
While I sit and sup my tea
Knowing full well that it could be me 
If I lived a hundred and eighty years ago 
When the British starved us slow 
To death 
And there is a memory that does not forget
It’s held like generational pain 
And I resonate with the acid rain 
That falls from white phosphorus plumes
Into lungs and living rooms
And burns into skin and sears 
People with images of those they hold dear 
Suffering and crucified
In every single one who’s died
Is the hidden heat 
Of the love that makes my heart beat 
And no claims of anti-semetic
Can make me subscribe to the rhetoric 
That justify the claims of war
When the dust settles what will all this be for 
And will we survive another spin of the wheel 
That makes us deny what we feel 
So we are capable of 
The worst of what I’ve listed above 

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A War Of Wills

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Me and Power had a war of wills 
And he flexed his skills 
In my direction 
But my selection 
Is to reside where I’ve always been 
And sit in the seat of a goddess or queen 
Somewhere in the avenue of soul 
I wander the grounds and I just roll
With the wave they want to crash
I’ve had better nights on the lash 
As he forces a pill into my hand 
Like he could inopportune the ocean with sand 
And he draws waifs on the beach
And comes to teach 
Me about the dragons that breathe fire
On the weak and never tire 
To seek out souls to ravage and dement 
He doesn’t realise I never went 
Away but to come again 
And I am not afraid of men 
Or of beasts that gnaw
What’s trembling me is the great thaw
As it steals aspects of my glacier 
I am the North Pole and I need ya 
To stem the flow of climate change
But I feel the days get strange 
As I see the ferocious that eats her 
And I know it wants to delete her
And she senses it too 
She’s not mad, she’s just looking into
The abyss and it’s looking back 
I look at the jenga I stack
And I know this house is gonna fall
And I’m not up for playing hard ball
With someone who thinks he knows
Why the woman is on the road 
I just flash him a glance
I think he knows there’s no second chance 

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To The Land I Love (Éire)

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Half of the town is missing in Bermuda
You could search for a reason but it would elude ya 
Why the history of partition and pain
Became as common in Ireland as rain 
And I fight to hold my rebel spirit 
Under control so that no one might hear it
Because I have the heart of the Gael
And my soul is not up for sale
And my blood used to boil
When I would read history about our sweat and toil 
Under the rule 
Of the English that we learned in school
Had us under the thumb
And they would kill anyone who would not succumb
To the heavy weight of oppression
And it is my confession
That some part of me bears generational hate
For all of the acts that left us in that state
The people I would love to be kin 
To if they hadn’t died of the sin 
Of merely ceasing to exist 
As the loyal service of a crown that I missed
When they educate 
You to clean your dinner plate
Or you will die
If you do not want to lie
Then stand up and be counted 
As the people who stood up and shouted 
Against the lashing of hail 
And the plantation fail 
To convert an adequate number 
Now I see Palestine and their hunger
As they have no bread 
Because they are controlled by land, sea and air instead 
Of the freshness of home
Do we as a tribe leave them alone
To face the mountain of world 
Built on the conquering of the girl
In the soul of us all
Someone wants to build a brick wall 
To keep the Mexicans out 
But I don’t trust a word out of his mouth
Because the land is free
And it does not belong to me 
But I to it
The Native American’s in the place where I sit
At the altar of pride
It is not okay that I hide
When I have the privilege to say
The conquering is not okay
When you consider the truth
The civilised nations to play the brute 
And inflict 
Themselves on a future I would rather quit 
In the innocent stain 
I can see it happening again 
As the world turn 
But will the world burn
If we do nothing to stall
The advance of the darkness that answers the call
Of the nomad or thief 
I look to the sky and its blessed relief
Just to know 
That there is a space that will not let go
And though they fly through the air
And I have been there
I can’t set a flag
On a cloud so that I can brag
That I now own it 
I used to resent but I have grown it
Into simmering wisdom 
I watch the auspices of power and the Great Schism 
Split us into a prism of light 
That we are all one is the message of life
And bear no hate for your enemy 
Coz you walk in his shoes and you discover you’re free
To love enough not to be pulled low
Enough to wish him to die slow 
In the mists of time 
If I could forgive would that be a crime 
For the sake of pure love
And all of the Gaelic in the place where I stood
My ground in this sacred place
If you don’t know you can read it in my face

Image Credit: https://pin.it/6z8AkqIbK

Young And Foolish

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It’s as though as I’ve been infantilised 
So that I can become human in their eyes
And it’s not like me at all
It doesn’t fit the brick wall
That was erected 
In the space her love deflected
Like it was a poison drink 
And I feel myself begin to sink 
In the grand abyss
And my old self is something that I miss
When young and seventeen 
I could manage the dream 
Just fine
Til calamity became mine
As his darkness spread a sea
Over the blanket that had become of me
Like clouds keeping the earth warm 
Eventually the break into a storm 
That fosters the people in their solemn grin 
And they say that sex is sin 
But they all do it anyway 
So I push that characterisation away
Because if we go by generations past
The pain will everlast 
Into the future
And no suture 
Can heal the gauzy wound 
I watched the winds of doom 
Close in around that sea 
And they call it sacred warfare and indignity 
Seems to be the order of the day 
But I do not look away 
From the images that perforate 
The screen that masks the dark of hate 
That propels people into motion 
And suddenly I am floating 
Above it all 
And the call 
Pummels my door
So I answer it, and what’s more
I let it take me somewhere new
I’m giving it up for them and I’m giving it up for you

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The Desperation Of Sighs

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There is the desperation of sighs
As another Palestinian dies 
For want of love
Because the world is too far above 
Itself to reach down
And bring peace to a town 
When someone runs with a gun 
Something somehow clasps 
Their hands so that thing cannot last 
And yet we watch as the ICJ 
Won’t wish this genocide away
And people say you’re anti Semetic
If you don’t agree with the rhetoric
That would condemn a people to evisceration 
Torture and brutality the equation 
That would erase them from this earth
I don’t know if bombs are made to hurt
Or just tear apart 
The human heart
We must start
A movement, a revolution 
To end apartheid that is brutal 
And unforgiving and unfair
I know because I was there 
When I watched the flag fall
Don’t hide them behind a brick wall
And say it’s not your plight
Because they’re relying on us, alright?

Rebelling Against What I Know

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He thinks he has something to give to me
But I’ve been set free
And your cocaine soul 
Is not enough to intoxicate and roll
Me up like a cigarette 
At least, it hasn’t yet 
And you show your cards to the deck
But you don’t see the summer that you wreck
When you try to tear me down
And rip shreds into my beautiful gown 
The one I wore to the dance
And I’m all about a second chance 
But forget about a third
Because I am a bird
And I’ll fly away from here
I won’t be tethered to you, dear
Not in any of your dreams
You can burst all of the seams
And it still won’t be enough to take 
The part of me that I will not forsake
You say you’ve been misunderstood
And all you’ve ever meant was the good
That human beings aspire to 
But I was there when you 
Pulled the switch on the phone 
Called me a bitch and left me alone 
To face the dragons that breathe 
Down my neck and seethe 
With the fumbling weight of time 
And I never did call you mine
Because you always moved from the casing 
So now I’m intent on erasing 
All that you were to me 
Is it enough if I set you free?

The Audacity

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They’re using gas
To break down the resistance
To wipe a people from existence 
And I know it’s not a popular opinion 
But how do you defend war
Even when you think you know what it’s for
As children die and adults scream
Because this is not just a dream 
We are having, a shared collective thread
This is about people murdered in their bed
As the vast swathe goes by unconcerned
As people watch their families burned
I try it raise my voice to say
This is not okay
As Palestine, oh, Palestine
One day there will come a time 
Where the indigenous don’t rot 
In a land time forgot 
When the powers that be know the worth
Of the innocent they choose to hurt
And I know they have plans, I know they have reasons
But this winter has no seasons 
And no hope to abate
Don’t make our brothers and sisters wait
To be considered human
Wake and realise what you’re doing

The Cult Of Country

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Is your country just a concept
Something you play with
Have you grown up 
Or are you still being a d***
Coz I cannot stand in silence
As the pillars burn 
Wait for someone else
To steady the axis turn
And storms are breaking out
Like they said they would
I read between the lines
Of a Book that is Good
But you seek to condemn 
What is merely knowing 
I look out the window
It’s April and it’s snowing
As the ice melts
And the Gulf Stream redirects 
I listen to Greta
And I wonder what’s next
In this reverberate 
That is slowly brewing
The people in charge
Don’t know what they’re doing
Or maybe they do 
(In that case it’s worse)
You order a Starbucks 
But I sense a hearse 
Somewhere on the horizon 
For the human race 
There’s no telling the atrocities 
That maybe we will face 
If something doesn’t change 
On the political scene 
I woke up from my nightmare
And it was just a dream

The New Domain

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A rising tide lifts all boats
But that only works if the damn thing floats
Else you have a tidal wave
And drown the people you’re trying to save
And are we crushing the flower we walk upon
Will we only know when it’s gone
When it’s too late to turn back
Fighting over what we lack 
Or will there be a new tomorrow 
Where we wake up from all the sorrow
Into a domain of peace
Where forgiveness is our just release
And what part do I play
Do I stand up for what I can’t say
As it ushers in a new command
Aren’t we too wise to fight over land?

If I Run You Just Catch Me

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I tried to run away
To put it behind me
But I love you still
So, baby don't mind me 
I'm just using Oxygen
As I'm drinking the air
Fantasise a future
With you and me there
And I know you've got reasons
I know you've got time
There is an us
But I can't say you're mine
Coz you're free in your soul 
You can't be tied down 
And I've stopped looking rivers
Outside of time 
As I drive by your flat
For the thousandth time 
Does it matter that I
See the sublime
In all that we were 
Or maybe could be
Never thought the Present Moment
Would be history
But I'm letting you go
And you hold on tight
It's like losing your shadow
When you miss the light
That follows me round
And shines from within
Something says awesome
In the shape of him

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The Unearthly Calm

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Photo by Ben Mack on Pexels.com
I see the faraway shore
Beckoning me to something more
And I understand 
That nothing good can be planned
As we grow up 
Like a tree
It's not up and over
But organically
And there's enough food
To feed each child
Enough land 
To let the animals roam wild
And did we build this monstrosity
That is growling in my face
I have to speak up 
For the human race
Coz we're going down
And if we don't shift
The present moment 
Won't be a gift
But an encumbrance
That we bear
I feel the fabric
Start to tear
As the seam
Is pulled to the edge
Don't let the money
Go to your head
As you earn and as we burn
The stifling and the axis turn
That leads us down a narrow path
Makes me wonder what we might be at
To poach the seas til they run dry
To pour the concrete til the soil die
And I've got this hefty weight to carry
Will I bear children and marry
But all I hear are the cries of the damned
And all the innocents no one understands
So if I've a prayer
It's help me, God
Live with Love 
And not the rod
That snaps down on a soft palm
They say that there's an unearthly calm
Before the tidal wave
So take the noise as a sign to save
While we still have time
What is your path
Coz I know mine

Noble

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I see myself standing on a stage
Standing up for that which does not age
And we all cascade like a waterfall
Into the ocean to enthrall
And I don’t know who I’m gonna be
I just know the open sea
Is pulsing within my veins
It doesn’t go by the normal names
Just something infinite 
You know you’ll be alright

Remind Them Of Their Humanity

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Remind them of their humanity
Don’t let it switch off
It’s not long living
But all is not lost
Coz there is a molten core
At the heart of everyone 
Nuclear fusion
Brighter than the sun
And it burns irregardless
Of the darkness you put yourself through
Don’t deny
All that is you
And I know it
Coz I’ve been through the night
But in the midst of the storm
The eye is alright
And I trust in the value
Of what makes us real
Is it intuition
Or the way that I feel
That tells me there’s an end
To a fighting soul
The wave is the ocean
Even if it has to roll
And you’re still what you are
Even in the confusion
Wake up from dread
And the delusion
That we are separate 
From each other
Walking the plains
As sister and brother
And opening a sky
That will soothe with rain
We don’t have to
Go through this again
And I’m a reporter 
On the front line
I don’t think we can do this
Another time

A Tentative Flowering

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I was the white girl in the room
The first time the end came too soon
And I made tea for Nina and Kamile
And you wouldn’t think it but this shit’s real
As I learn things I didn’t know 
About how corporate America go
And tear down the African soul
We’re still the colour the waves roll 
And I stood out coz of my skin
I was in the lift just silent with him
And he’s got dreads and is so cool
I tell him about DJ in school
But am I just being tone deaf
To walk the way, well what the eff
And what the hell do I know 
The privilege of my skin to show
Why is the world this way
And it’s not just what the country say
It’s continental persecution 
You have those lives that are so brutal
Just a struggle to survive
So I can find appliances with which to vibe
And do I just become organic
Does that mitigate the titanic
Task of hunger facing us
Why can’t we just learn to trust
And share like children do
But we grasp onto what we think is true
And defend our own positions 
That turn into ammunition 
With which we can stare the enemy down
But I’m turning tables as we turn around
To a sudden kind of consciousness 
It’s a shift in our distress
Away from the heavy handed tide
I care that every child survives
And has a place to call home
More than adequate and all alone
More than just the mute discard
I acknowledge they have it hard
And there is more that I can do
Just tell me what you
Need from me at any time
I don’t want to hoard what is mine
But open arms and let it be
It’s time to wake up and see
And know and sudden realise
That we are one under the skies
So blue and heavenly open free
You call out and destiny
Will shake and break this whole thing up
There’s got to be more to Love
Than just watching your own back
Or finding somewhere to attack
There is a season true
It’s one for all and all for you

Paper Trails

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Leaving a paper trail of tears behind me
I’m overwrought so never mind me 
As I build a new monument to all that’s fallen
I’m in the Deep South and they are drawling
As they curb all anticipation 
Can I watch your tv station
Just for a little while
I made you see, you made me smile
And all I can think of is torment
The indigenous people and where they went
Forced across rock and stone
Broken in their skin and bone
But with their Spirit true
I can still have faith in You
As all comes crashing like a wave
Is it sin to abdicate to save
And hold a hand
Is the shore more than sand
And if a rock is hewn to bits
Do you have space to sit with it
Or does its impermanent tone
Remind you what it’s like to be alone
Moving weight like old stone
I’d hold back but I’ve already shown
All of my stars to you
I’ll love you if you want me to

Arrowheads

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Things are changing rapidly
But they’re also staying the same 
Love seems to be
The name of the game
As we grow and garden plants
But from the sky we look like ants
And do you think that such a view
Can contain the heights of you
Or the depth of your soul
You don’t have to pay the toll
Of living in a body human 
The cars pass by zooming
And I wonder if I could catch a glance 
Would it move me like another chance
As we all spend the scene
Then call change a certain dream
Because we are meant to grow
Not torture each other, you know
And the weight of troubled times
Live with us like the crimes
We secretly commit 
Or who we’re talking with
On the down low
I let it go, or don’t you know