Wednesday, November 09, 2005

Look Around You

France is burning
Did you notice the smoke...the flames?
Have you peeked your head
outside of your shell
outside of your world?

The country with
the city of Love
is filled with hate.
Hate which is igniting fires.
Hate retaliating against Racism.

Take a look
at this "moment of truth"
for France
for Us....the human race.

oh, i'm not immune.....i go about my business too.....as France is burning...did you see?...State of Emergency has been declared.....

4 comments:

Mariposatomica said...

Yes Dr.V, humans at our best. Very relevant poem.

Matt said...

Civilization is not yet civil. Too many people getting a bum deal.

dr.v (Not a narcotic Pez dispenser) said...

mariposa,
Gracias :)
had to write it...there i was sitting at home...saw the recent headlines.....i could feel the heat from the flames..hear the crackling of the fires....i could see smoke....how could i not turn around and investigate?

zataod,
will we ever be civil? seems like a daunting goal. I think we can only be civil when we learn to think about others and learn to respect/appreciate differences. We need to see ourselves as one big family. Imagine if all the poor in the world rioted at the same time. someone made a comment that the poor DO outnumber the rich on this planet.

Ron Hudson said...

I am very glad to see this post. I lived in France in 1979-80, have French friends and was there this summer. In one of my interviews, a Frenchman told me that in France, liberty is born out of violence. I didn't quite understand him, but now I see. The French Revolution had to take place to upend the Monarchy, the Communards and Bronski were massacred in Père LaChaise Cemetery by the government in the 1870s, the Resistance movement had to overcome the Nazi occupation and France's own Pétain and the riots of 1968 mirrored the rest of the world and its unrest. Now we have racism in 2005 that is burning in the streets. I know people who are immigrants to France...their lives could be better.

I have no doubt that France will recover. She may end up with changes, but one thing is sure: She can take change. The US has never been tested like France has been.