ABPA - Australian Bush Poets Association

Headline: Child bomber kills at least 50 people at Turkish wedding

The World Has Gone Crazy!

© David Campbell, 22/08/16

The world has gone crazy, I reckon,
with much that I don’t understand,
for lunacy rages around us…
it’s all getting quite out of hand.

In Europe the fear keeps on mounting
as terrorists hunt for their prey,
the Middle East’s falling to pieces,
with no-one to show them the way.

In Africa nations are dying
of hunger and rampant disease,
destroyed by endemic corruption
and tyrants who do as they please.

The refugee crisis just worsens,
with millions all trying to flee
the hell that had once been their homeland,
a desperate bid to be free.

It happens in so many countries
where horror and misery’s rife,
and that gives a sense of perspective
to what I most value in life.

So much is, in essence, quite petty,
perhaps an assault on my pride,
and maybe my ego’s been wounded,
but no-one has suffered and died.

For all of the bluster and shouting,
the threats that I might want to make,
are nothing compared to the trauma
each day when your life is at stake.

I think we need constant reminders
of what is important to us,
when molehills are turned into mountains
in order to kick up a fuss.

When egos are over-inflated,
they tend to be mostly hot air,
and think that they’re very important
when really there’s nothing much there.

For me, it’s a quite basic lesson,
a glance in the mirror to say:
“Don’t act like a self-centred fathead,
just count all your blessings each day!”

Good piece of poetry David. it reflects the world around us. Ive spoken to people who travel all over the world. they tell me Australia is the one to stay.

Duncan.

Very good - very true - and I will now delete my poem "This is Not My World Any More" as it speaks to the same topic but nowhere near as well. Luckily I was only a couple of verses into it. Nice work David.
Wazza

Well said indeed, David! On the scale of things, the niggles and annoyances we face don't even register. On TV the other day they showed some drawings done by a Syrian refugee child. There were graphic depictions of headless and limbless people, people whose faces were streaked with tears, and people lying dead. The dead people were smiling. The message was clear and very disturbing.

Whenever I catch myself feeling ungrateful or thinking more of myself than necessary, I remember our visit to Myanmar (Burma) two years ago. A country of superb natural beauty, abject poverty and very little freedom. A few moments' reflection soon convinces me that I have absolutely nothing to whinge about.

Wazza - don't delete your poem! Seeing the same topic through another poet's eyes is always enriching. Finish it and share it with us!

Cheers
Shelley

Thank you Duncan, Wazza and Shelley. The daily headlines are a constant reminder of how fortunate we are here compared to so many other places around the world. My wife and daughters were in Nice just a few weeks before the horrific Bastille Day truck attack that killed 86 people, and I can't help thinking...what if? Over the last couple of years, going back to the Charlie Hebdo mass shootings in January 2015, the people of France have really suffered. By comparison, events here pale into complete insignificance. A sense of perspective is so important.

David

Bang on David!

Whenever I start feeling sad or overwhelmed, I remember my dear mother's voice..."Listen to the birds....' Oh that works well indeed, because you can't just listen to them; they draw you outside, & next thing you are looking at the trees & all the beauty around us...That's when perspective kicks in. (She also would say, "This too will pass.")

Wazza, big smack you! Take Shelley's advice young fella.

Your mother was a wise woman, Glenny - what good advice that is!

When I whinged (as kids do), my mother would remind me of others less fortunate ... "I cried because I had no shoes, until I saw a man who had no feet" - this was a favourite saying of hers.

Cheers
Shelley

Good old Mother's sayings, eh Shelley?

It's the people who have gone mad - brainwashing or forcing under threat, a little child to do such a terrible thing and I saw on the news another one was set up to do the same thing but the police got to him first being tipped off by his somewhat bizarre behavior.

I wonder how long it will be before we also become targeted.