2022 AS I SEE IT
What Would They Say About 2022
We might be surprised!
Grandad was an artist with firm ideals,
A mighty Conscientious Objector.
He painted watercolors to express his feels
Grandma — the at-home protector
Ern’s life spent in majestic creation
Fashioning furniture lovingly turned
With pictorial inserts, such gleaming sensations —
Glowing reputation, well-earned.
What would they say about year twenty-two,
Given chance to be spectre spectators?
I suspect they would shrug and then ask, “What is new?
Where are Mother Earth curators?”
“Gripe of pandemic as though it is yours,
And floods, fire, famine, drought, earthquakes and more,
As if they never touched all those lives lived before.
Let us rant a little on war!”
“During our time such wars overwhelming
Too many to count just in one sitting,
Harsh coups, insurrections, and bloody rebellions,
Life, at times, seemed not worth living”
“Should we mention here the Great Depression?
Ten years of riots, hunger and despair.
Long queues for food — a bleak and hopeless recession.
Distribution of wealth unfair.”
“You don’t own rights to blatant injustice
To cruelty and brutal inequity,
And discrimination. On this, you can trust us.
We lived with inequality!”
Before we leave, these things should be mentioned —
Human trafficking. Fight for religion.
Killing for gain, murderous human intentions,
Military use of children.
“From here, where we sit as flies on your wall
Casting our judgement on how you’ve progressed,
We are sad you’ve learned little, not so much at all
When we tried, we too failed the test!”
“Our best suggestion, while fading away:
Wake up! Keep trying! Pull heads from the sand!
Tomorrow is the gift of a shining new day —
The solutions rest in your hands!”
In loving memory:
Ernest William Baker 1890–1960
Constance Muriel Baker 1889–1956
Suntonu Bhadra prompted “What About 2022”:
Toni Crowe warns us on a post-it note:
Carolyn Hastings stands with Ukraine:
