Not above it
We are part of nature
Not above it.
Evolved in harmony.
Love it.
It is not there
For us to use,
Other forms of life
To abuse.
Respect is deserved
Not disdain.
Three billion years –
Complexity to reign.
New upon the scene
Creating havoc.
Land, sea and air
Running amok.
Not respecting life
Upon the planet.
Devouring the system –
A hungry gannet.
We should act
With more compassion.
Obsessed with
High Street fashion.
Opher – 25.8.2020
My Name is
My name is Dominic Cummings
I don’t obey the rules.
My name is Gavin Williamson
I’m still in charge of schools.
My name is Dido Harding
From Track and Trace for fools
My name is Boris Johnson
I lack a full set of tools.
We’re all part of a government
That doesn’t walk – it crawls!
Opher – 24.8.2020
The Cosmic Dance
Every atom a poem
Enclosed in time,
Dancing through a rhyme.
Life alive with poems,
Cavorting with ease,
Dancing in the breeze.
The world made of poems
Tangoing with Mars,
Dancing through the stars.
The universe one big poem –
In magnificent designs
An infinity of lines.
Opher – 24.8.2020
Culture
Culture is rich,
Surrounded with mystery,
A time capsule of history.
Culture is a prison,
Binding us in a straitjacket
The conservative’s racket.
Culture is art,
Security and order,
Stopping at the border.
Culture brings conflict
Intolerance and repression
Conflict and oppression.
Culture enriches,
Satisfies the mind,
Expresses the divine.
Culture prevents change,
Restricts development
Bolsters the arrogant.
Culture is binding
Brings people in harmony
Full of tales and hominy.
Culture is intolerant
Locks people in the tribal
Pushing Koran and Bible.
Culture is simple
It is also complex
Especially when concerning sex.
Opher – 23.8.2020
Icecaps and Polar Bears
Icecaps and polar bears,
Penguins and seals,
Whales and walruses;
They’re heading for the hills.
Seas are rising.
Land is getting hot.
Hurricanes and droughts.
The climate is shot.
Burning up the coal
The oil and the gas.
Breeding like rabbits.
Chasing the cash.
We haven’t woken up yet
To the time that’s running out.
We need to wake up
To what it’s all about.
Out there on Venus
It’s four hundred degrees.
If we don’t act soon
It’ll bring us to our knees.
Opher – 23.8.2020
Slowly Fading
Summer is slowly fading.
The yellow August sun
Painting fields in gold.
The green giving way
To a multitude of colour,
On its way to brown.
Summer segues to autumn
As days shorten
And warmth drains
From the air.
Will will tear
The multi-coloured leaves
From branches,
Leaving skeletal trees
For Winter to hang
With tears and ice.
Another summer slowly unloads
Electricity from its battery.
Preparing for hibernation
And the long wait
To awaken once again.
Opher – 19.8.2020
The Universe
All time exists in one moment,
All matter and energy,
Emerging from nothing.
All laws creating in an instant
All the universe
Exploding into something.
Life – a pinnacle of complexity
Disobeying entropy
To organise itself.
Nature a sophisticated mystery
Of interconnection;
A multitude of wealth.
All life a magnificent culmination
Of awe and wonder
In a cascade of forms.
Mutating and evolving
Into a mighty web
Whose majesty defies the norms.
Opher 21.8.2020
A Sound Poem
Connected by a beat,
A throbbing of the heart.
Notes rising and falling
In a symphony of art.
Capturing emotion,
Expounding philosophy,
Expressing great love,
Misery to ecstasy.
Created from a drumbeat,
Or plucking of a wire.
Melding into melody
To set the soul on fire.
From all walks of life,
Industrial and rustic.
In all its many forms –
It’s the wonder of music.
Opher – 21.8.2020
Superstition and Ignorance
Superstition and ignorance
In abundance
As the flames are being fanned.
Division and intolerance
On the rise
With tribalism throughout the land.
Populist empty promises
Cynically employed
Frightening people into making a stand.
Race and religion
Deployed with hate
Not from the brain but from the glands.
Opher – 19.8.2020
The Time Comes
Dictators fall.
Even tyranny has its limits.
Like a pressure cooker
With the heat turned up –
Something gives.
Oppression creates fear
But fear can rapidly change to fury
When a certain point
Is reached.
People crowd the streets
Encased in teargas clouds,
Facing down
The faceless goons.
Shields are thumped.
Adrenaline flows.
Rubber bullets fly.
Trained robots charge.
Batons thud on heads.
But if the people are united,
Determined and resolute
The regime falls.
Opher – 17.8.2020