PAIN

[This was written in response to Poet United's Thursday Think Tank Prompt # 11 : Pain. This is the list that comes to mind but I am sure it would be longer if I took more time. It was getting too depressing:)]
Tofino Creek in Clayoquot Sound. Photo from blog.livebooks.com
What pains me?
The sight of logging trucks
heading out of town
with the last of our forests,
transporting jobs to
Somewhere Else,
leaving hillsides of waste
behind,
like corpses strewn
on the field of battle.
What pains me?
Dolphins being massacred
in the bays of Japan,
frantically trying to escape
with their babies
in a sea of blood.
Whales, dead on the beach
from ocean toxins.
Ocean plankton,
half our world's oxygen source,
reduced by 40%
since 1950.
Because of humans.
Because of us!
Oil spills, global warming,
multinationals raping the planet
for profit,
and destroying our grandchildrens'
childrens' tomorrows.
Hungry and displaced
wild creatures
of all kinds.
Mistreated and abused
animals and children.
The mentally ill, the homeless,
the suffering hordes
of refugees
moving across desert landscapes.
Pakistan, struggling in a sea of mud.
Flood victims in Pakistan - CBC photo

Warfare and all manner
of fractious inharmoniousness,
over differing ideologies,
which makes as much sense as
killing each other
because we prefer
different types of jam.

What pains me?
Not being able to do much
but write poems about
all of the above.

What pains me?
Growing old and
having taken
far too long
to grow wise.

What hurts?
Being wise.