If you close your eyes

to the world outside,

will the fighting suddenly cease?

Will brother and sister

hold hands together

and build a new life of peace?

 

Does a person, born blind,

not hear the teeth grind

as disaster, from greed, is grown?

That because he can’t see,

thinks we're are all living free

and reaping the seeds we have sown?

*

If you block your ears

with hands wrapped in fear,

will the threat to life dissipate?

Will the tyrants and haters

and evil dictators,

finally open their gates?

 

Does a person born deaf

never fear for the death

of their family, children and friends?

That because they can’t hear

there is nothing to fear

and life will go on without end?

*

If you seal your lips

with cold finger-tips,

will the shouting suddenly fade?

Will the human divide,

like a wound gaping wide,

start healing, to live a new day?

 

Does the person born dumb

think the world has become

a paradise, lost overnight?

That because he cant speak

other people will seek

to live, instead of just fight?

*

You cannot deny

what you see with your eyes,

you cannot block out all the pain.

You cannot ignore

what is outside your door

or hiding in a jesters refrain.

 

You must listen close

to the schemes they propose

and act for the good of mankind.

Please listen and learn

how to make the wars turn

and leave all the suffering behind.

 

You have to speak out

and don’t fear to shout,

if you know that your cause is just.

Speak out for the ones

who are cowed by the bombs,

before we are all turned to dust.

*

 

Written by Darren Scanlon, 24th June 2014.

Revised 11th July 2015.

©2014 Darren scanlon. All rights reserved.