Co-operation of Poets

 

Co-operation of Poets

 

When I listen to poets from 3^rd World Realities

I hear how tightly they hold to hope

In the maelstrom of their formation

They need it to survive

Communities pray to it everyday

It heals wounds & the lost it can save

& yet the poetry I write from my First World Eye

Is imbued with suspicion & doubt

I have no concrete obstacles in my life

Like security & basic shelter

My basic needs are met

& yet when I look at my intimacies

I see something disingenuous

Something of the sphinx of man

Something that says while I’m moved by chants

My journey is somehow more shadowed

The question is: do I have the right to speak

In a world of wars, poverty, imprisonings & famine

But I can’t pretend to be a third world man

& I’ve observed the bourgeois’ platitudes

To contract away complex situations

For so long a grain of cynicism I’ve detected on my tongue

& I’ve vowed with two others to forever be

Only for mutual betrayals

So my poetry is for the following stages

After a hope-fuelled revolution

We need messages of hope to get the ball rolling

To build up strong communities

We need to reach all human frequencies

But once the ball’s stopped we need clarity

So every poet, wherever their seat, are part of the pledge

To make the world safer

To make it more just

Of course

We need marching beats & bellowing horns

To get the lame over the mountains

But also then

We need reflective lovers

For a sustainable reconstruction

All hands are required on deck

The class system must end

For a world of mutual respect

All hands are required on deck

 

 

Published & Copyright Malachi Doyle 2025.