Tuesday, February 5, 2019

Zero Tolerance


My heart has zero tolerance
for social injustice,
abuse of animals and humans,
Zero tolerance
for wealthy psychopaths
who grin all the way to the bank,
while they destroy the planet for profit,
(whose?)

and

Writing a poem
feels like
emptying the plastic-choked ocean
with a teaspoon.

yet

One must do something,
when so much is wrong:
speak up at every level of governance:
municipal, provincial, national,
personal/political.

Apologize to fallen trees;
plant more.
Hope there is still a planet
to house them
when they grow.


Yes, it is discouraging. But the largest part of my inner make-up is hope, so I have to go on hoping, against the INSANITY that abounds everywhere right now. I have zero tolerance for it all. Yet somehow have to bridge daily peace and gratitude, and hopefulness, in the middle of it all.

for Susan's Midweek Motif at Poets United: Zero Tolerance. Pick any topic. I have zero tolerance for all the ways humankind gets it so wrong, when, given a little light, it could be so much better than it is. Society is very sick. It needs an intervention, starting right at the top. A good start would be the removal of the orange prez and his complicit cohorts.


14 comments:

  1. "Writing a poem
    feels like
    emptying the plastic-choked ocean
    with a teaspoon."

    Amen, sister. I spend time examining the things I am honestly at the zero tolerance level about, asking how learning to listen more might soften the situation. And then there is poetry. And these small group support systems we find. I, too, apologize to the trees and hope/pray.

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  2. "Hope there is still a planet
    to house them
    when they grow."...We live in hope in spite of all the madness going around us. Susan quotes my favorite lines.

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  3. A heartfelt poem. I can only say I am sorry, it is hard to believe those that do such harm, just don't know, can't know. Bravo!! Sherry.

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  4. Sherry you write with an open, loving heart. How wonderfully you express my thoughts. I love what you've written here and feel the same way.
    It's hard for me try to listen to those who support the orange guy. Hard for me to tolerate their rhetoric.

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  5. These people know. It is just too inconvenient, too hard, too busy...whatever. I post on my FB about single use plastics, animal abuse, feeding the hungry, etc I feel like I am talking to the deaf.

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  6. I am totally with you Powerful and love this" Writing a poem feels like emptying the plastic-choked ocean with a teaspoon." It so much shows how powerless one feels as there is so much apathy

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  7. Personal responsibility is within our power to change things. It is the apathy self centredness and lack of spirituality that is going to be our downfall.

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  8. The sadness of this subject is that so many people are blind as they consume food and almost everything else wrapped in plastic that they will happily put in their bins mindless of the damage they are causing. Let' hope it is not too long before the penny drops.

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  9. Not sure, whether I should be crying, with this poem. Or, getting righteously angered at all of the injustices of the world. Maybe, a bit of both.

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  10. Dear Sherry your poem reaches the depths of feelings as your image of the choked oceans..strong powerful write up

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  11. I stand with you, shoulder to shoulder, Sherry! I love the stanza:

    ‘Writing a poem
    feels like
    emptying the plastic-choked ocean
    with a teaspoon’ –

    but if all of us poets unite and keep at it, we are doing something, and if our poetry is being read then we are making a difference. I love the idea of apologising to fallen trees and let’s get planting!

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  12. The general public is just as guilty as the politicians, for all these wrongs. What an outrageous nightmare! I agree, we do need zero tolerance for this version of reality.
    Beautiful writing, Sherry!

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  13. Yes, it seems hopeless. But many people with a teaspoon each can make a difference!

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  14. Totally share your views.
    Speaking up is the solution.
    I have so many saplings that I want to plant in a safe place.

    Zero Tolerance For Misinformation - Anita

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