Nothing earthshaking

(decay yet unburied)

Does it matter
where one stands:
on basalt, granite
or on sand?
Does it matter
what one tries:
to live in peace
or profit from lies?
Is thought
the only thing
for food?
Are children
only born
for slaughter?
The self
attachment
through apps
spent,
senseless
self-indulgence
sent,
fills
the shelf
without repent,
humanity packed
in electronic mail
in the morgue
where decency
and justice
failed.

T.P. Wilkinson, Dr. rer. pol. writes, teaches History and English, directs theatre and coaches cricket between the cradles of Heine and Saramago. He is author of Unbecoming American: A War Memoir and also Church Clothes, Land, Mission and the End of Apartheid in South Africa. Read other articles by T.P..