Tag Archives: political

Inquiring Minds, Poetry Work

The Madman’s Furious Tolling

3 Comments

Atop a distant hill
sits a bright white church
constructed of weathered wood,
brick and mortar
crumbling at its corners

It takes the right or wrong eye
to mark its edges,
as either true and straight,
or jagged as an age-old eroded
crown.

Green rich pastures roll around
its foundations,
capturing the height of its walls
in the folds of a land
that endure its weight,
pressing ever down
while far below its
hallowed grounds
the roots have become
diseased and begun to whither.

Through a dirty pane of glass
you will spy a seeming man
in shadow residing.

He is a slumped, disheveled figure,
silhouetted by a dying day,
chafed hands always holding
rough hewed ropes secured tightly
to the bell higher up in
the proud tower.

He waits for the sun to fall
to horizon’s knife edge,
for everyone knows
all devious deeds are best
done in the dark.

Death has come
to this cursed land
and that man
is Death’s sonorous
escort, pulling on the bell
furiously like a madman, as
the pale rider
stampedes through the town
to take its rightful claim
in the night on through til
dawn’s first morning
light strikes.

Yet, all the town knows
Death shall surely
return again
when the madman
continues
his furious tolling
in the bright white church
high atop the hill.

By Philip Wardlow Oct 20,2020

Inquiring Minds

We can’t run

Leave a comment

 

I have heard many people state over the years, months, and weeks as of late in various media platforms , “Why don’t you just leave your state, or this country if you don’t like the way it’s being run?”

First, I would say, “I was born here, it’s my home.”

Second, I would say, “Some of are us are not so mobile, and not as well off to simply pick up their whole lives and begin anew.”

Thirdly, “What you are talking about is just political self-segregation same as we have had with self-segregation with our educational system state to state across the US over the last 50 years or more. Sure, the Federal Govt abolished segregation at the Government level awhile ago, but not at the personal level with white,  more affluent families choosing to leave certain districts of lower income structures that minorities tended to live in, which later resulted in a higher tax base for those richer suburban neighborhoods while those Urban areas were left adrift,  with a high population density and lower tax revenues generated for their schools.

Also added to that, there were many nefarious but legal state mandates back in the day,  corralling minorities in certain neighborhoods to keep them at bay if you will from the suburban areas and from getting ahead in general.  Because of all that, we now we have many  failing or depressed school systems throughout the U.S. , while other affluent communities  thrive just a few miles away. We then have this polarizing affect of the haves and the have nots occurring across the nation, creating tensions we could have avoided to a large degree.

I  believe familiarity breeds compassion and friendships, as isolation breeds ignorance and fear on both sides.

Black on black crime is the leading cause of young black men in the US and I point to a lack at a chance at a good education,  and also a mental component of the world saying you are good enough to matter being the culprit to all the violence being done.

My whole point is this, leaving a situation, or running from it, WILL not make this nation better as a whole, there are NO borders here in the U.S. or the World . That’s just an illusion we sell ourselves. The bad or the good will always come knocking at your door from everything that happens here in the U.S or abroad, and I mean everything.

by Philip Wardlow May, 2020