Humanity

O Friend, my friend

Do not let your heart harden

i do not pretend to know

the consequences of your poverty

it must be exhausting

doing something you don’t want

to get through the day 

and barely survive

to go to sleep still hungry

to see your children grow up

without education, without a future

i do not pretend to know

i only know i cannot imagine

living the life you live

with no hope, with daily struggle

to barely make the ends meet

i would be angry at the Sun

that comes every morning mercilessly

bringing with it

more toil, more work

work that has no meaning

work that serves no purpose

i would be angry at the mountain

which stands tall and magnificent

never changing, reassured of its beauty

how it mocks me and my existence?

i would be angry at the human society

wonder at its hypocrisy

which has reached the moon,

but has not reached the poor

which pretends to be progressive

but fails to protect the vulnerable

it is a profoundly sick society

that respects the cunning

but abhors the simple

because the powerful and the rich are insecure

so they imagine the whole humanity as insecure

they are the controller of destinies

and are ruthless and efficient in their functioning

the only right they know is the right to exploit

the courts and the police act as their henchmen

the law of the jungle has become the law of society

where the wild and immoral rule by fiat

and the weak and obedient are made to suffer

still i would urge to not loose the heart

for it is your labour, your work

that makes the world go around

the struggle is incessant

the toil is back-breaking

and every new technology disrupts

whatever security you may have found

we are all culprits and responsible

for the misery and destitution you suffer

i cannot change the situation overnight

so i do not promise you the moon

for i am too but a drop in the ocean

but i can commit to you one thing

that i will never sleep content and with peace

as long as there is oppression

and unnecessary suffering

i urge you to take the heart

the hour is dark with no glimpse of light

i am at a loss to find how to change the world

i promise that I will expose society’s complacency

in wilful participation in an unjust world

the people defeated feudalism

so they can defeat capitalism

and there are still voices that advocate your case

take heart and do not despair

for the darkest hour is also the most restless

and from this may spring a glimmer of hope

to a world where humanity becomes a world religion!