musings of a damned mind

Still your tongues.

To the shouters in Wall Street and the politicians with their briefcases

Still your tongues.

To the media hounds baying obscenities at the faux aristocracy of footballers and anorexic movie stars;

Still your tongues.

To Shakespeare and Byron and Shelly,

To Nietzsche Sartre and Dostoevsky,

To Saul Williams, Taylor Mali and Anis Mojgani,

To the poets ,The philosophers, the politicians,

The writers, the fighters, the lovers,

To everyone, everywhere,

Still. Your. Tongues.

And I will still mine.

For there are no, words, left.

We’ve used them all.

When a politicians sex life is ‘horriffic’

And a ‘celebrity’s’ breast size is ‘barbaric’.

When a big brother candidate is ‘disgraceful’

And racism is worth defending

What words are left?

Still your tongues,

From the screeching for attention and fame and stardom

And listen.

Do you hear that?

Tap, tap, tap ,tap.

Sandled feet on Tibettan cobbles

Tap, tap, tap, tap

Sandled feet in a Burmese square

Taptaptaptaptaptaptaptap

Bare feet on darfur’s sand.

On Rwandan sand

In Korea ,

Vietnam ,

Afghanistan .

Taptap taptap

The heart beat

Taptap

Of a young boy

Taptap

In Lebanon

Taptap

In Baghdad

Taptap

He looks up

Taptap

At a shadow

Taptap

In the sky

Tapta………

What words are left for this?

And why do we only listen when someone tells us we should care?

When a sporting event runs a burning twig through a city,

Then we sit up,

Then we pay attention.

To those…

Tap tap tap tap

Feet.

Taptap

Still your tongues,

Taptap

Open your ears,

Taptap

See with your eyes,

Taptap

Finally,

Taptap

with your hands;

Taptap

Reach out.