The orphans of hope

Cherry

By Parson Thru

Thu, 19 Apr 2018
  • 2987 reads
13 comments
 
What chance do you give a nation
whose governments build walls
where we need bridges?
 
Whose culture favours
sterile corporate meeting rooms
and towering real estate
above communities, homes and people?
 
Whose bankers feed us to the tiger
on whose back they ride?
 
While proclaiming death of ideology,
subverting death itself?
 
Mesdames et messieurs.*
 
Whose victorious orthodoxy
wears the clothes of God’s own chosen way?
 
Evangelised and elevated high above all heresy,
wrapped in flag and faith?
 
Faites vos jeux, s’il vous plait.
 
Whose wealth barricades itself
against the ghettos it installs?
 
Builds its fences high
and drives its wedges deep?
 
Painting its Jerusalem in racing green
with skies oneiric shades of blue?
 
La roue tourne.
 
Sprinkling sugar on the tongue
and sawdust on the blood?
 
Are we the orphans of hope?
 
Rouge, numéro un.
 
Who will offer us a mirror
to inspect ourselves?
 
And help us differentiate
the walls from the bridges?
 
Il n’y a pas de gagnants.
 
***
Translation 
(If anyone is more familiar with these terms, don't be afraid to shout out.  I don't get in the casino much.)
 
Ladies and gentlemen.
 
Place your bets, please.
 
The wheel is spinning.
 
Red, number one.
 
There are no winners.
Certificate U
Poem
Parson Thru III
Miscellaneous

Comments

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

I never knew bets were paris in french! 

Small typo in Jerusalem

I like this parson - thank you for posting it

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Thanks insert!

Missed that one.  M. Angry. :)

So it seems.  I checked a couple of sources, but who knows what might be unearthed.  Brace! Brace!

Parson Thru

Submitted by VoraciousViajera on

I think this is something that will resonate with most people these days. Loved how it was constructed! Beautiful and tragic at the same time.

~VoraciousViajeralaugh

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Thanks VoraciousViajera.

I absolutely love that name. :)

Parson Thru

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

Just had an idea. Shouldn’t it be faites vos jeux?

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

I'll go with that.

Thanks, insert!

Parson Thru

Submitted by Insertponceyfre... on

if you wanted to be pedantic, you might add a circumflex - ah no! Just googled and it doesn't need one. I was right though, it's place your bets

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Thanks insert.  I'm really grateful. x

I've just made some edits to clarify the focus / the object.  It got lost a bit in the early part.

I've been grinding my teeth down with all this.  Maybe that'll stop for a while now.  Anyway, I can't afford the dental work these days.  

Parson Thru

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Thank you! x

Parson Thru

Submitted by Denzella on

You clever old sausage.  I enjoyed your poem very much but was grateful for the translations.  It was an intriguing read.  I particularly liked the first but frightening stanza.  Frightening because so near the truth  

Moya x

 

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Hello Moya. Just woken up from a dream with two lovely dogs in it. You would have enjoyed it. Thank insert for prompting me about translations. I wondered if that stanza was a bit corny, but it's a fact. I hope all is good with this morning. Take care.

Kevin x

Parson Thru

Submitted by Ray Schaufeld on

Politics as an unlucky gamble. Sad truth.

Submitted by Parson Thru on

Hi Elsie. Politics in the widest sense. Luck only plays a part once you have your seat at the table. And luck can be herded this way and that.

Parson Thru