SWIMMING IN SENTIMENT poem

Swimming in Sentiment

My heart is a lyre, plucking
stories from TV’s
medium of anguish --

Taliban ferment in Afghanistan
Rebels in the Congo,
Terrorists on Malaysian soil
a sniper
in Maryland, USA.
And havoc
within the cities of Iraq.

Tormented people are
not diminished
their lives a testament to my
thoughts --

I feel anguish within those
tortured faces,
victims of Columbia drug wars
failures in food shortages
and escape from Ethiopia’s
drought.

Tired souls possess a
passion for survival,
capturing mice for food
on the barrens of Afghanistan,
fish in the harsh distance of
Arctic north, and holding
one another during Tsumani’s rage.

And I am in bondage to their spirit.

© Richard L. Provencher 2007