June
written by: Kirstin Maguire
@KMaguirePoetry
Then, the UK voted out of the EU in the Referendum.
Outbreaks followed amongst and we realised there were more social divisions than we may have hoped
This Is What Happens When Nobody’s Listening
This is what happens when we splinter and divide,
When we favour a simplified rhetoric framed as national pride.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when it’s he who shouts loudest,
When we’re armchair politicians preaching and broadcasting.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when it’s me, me, me,
Selling ourselves with filtered reality.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when our media’s divisive and owned,
And we throw out skewed judgement like you’d throw a dog a bone.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when people feel isolated,
And turn on each other because their fears are unabated.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when a debate is hijacked
By fear mongering ’till souls are vacuum packed.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens in an insidious class structure,
When aims at collectivity are less than lacklustre.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when we allow life expectancy
To be shorter purely because people are lonely.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when we embrace complacency,
And revel in layers of mediocrity.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when we close our view
To people reinforcing what we thought we already knew.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when people can’t see
Themselves as part of something bigger than I and Me.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when people feel deceived,
Undervalued and systematically aggrieved.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when we lose compassion,
And people are treated in a degraded fashion.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when we’re reactionary,
When suspicion eats away at our clarity.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when we choose easy solutions,
Over the more complex task of connected evolution.
And nobody’s listening.
This is what happens when panic rules the heart,
This is what happens and we play our part.
And now we’ll have to listen.
NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:
Poetry from a current affairs based chapbook called ‘Poetry Press: This Was 2016’
Published in numerous literary magazines, her debut collection 'Sketch A Day Poetry' was published by Alba and released in February 2016. Her follow-up current affairs chapbook 'Poetry Press: This Was 2016' will be released in December 2016.
- Interview With Kirstin Maguire - May 9, 2017
- October - March 30, 2017
- June - March 16, 2017
