Death of What We Don't Want to See

Not my most uplifting piece, for sure.  I am feeling sadness at the destructive things that are happening all over the world - many of them the results of the lives we've lived for decades and centuries - and I'm noticing that, at best, we put band-aids on the problems, just like we often put on make-up and dye our hair, while our bodies suffer from lack of care.


Death of What We Don't Want to See

i'm sorry.  i can't help but noticing
   the news is not all that good.
your towns are burning, flooding; their
governments corrupting,
and the weather all crazy.

but who am I to say 
   that this is wrong?  the trajectory
        was launched so long ago.
        as sex will at some point hit
              the jackpot - then diapers, 
              rebellion, and empty nesting,...

we've dug and cut and thrown away, and
   it's natural that this trajectory
        launched so long ago 
        will at some point hit
             the jackpot - then hunger, 
              rebellion, refugees, and ???

is it too late?  i wonder why i
sometimes forget grief.  it's like my soles
        and the arch of my back 
        are dying, all that's hidden breaking
              down, while i paint my eyebrows, 
              dye my hair and smile.

Carol Barrow, 2015