at a birthday party

I have seen quarrels turn into beatings

and draw blood

I have watched over students yawning

for trying to concentrate

I have watched over meetings ringing

with raised voices

I have followed the progress of lovers

with delight

I am privy to secrets a journalist would

all but die for

I have been amused by such melodrama

as politicians love to stage

I have been moved by a significant few

brokering for peace

I become incensed by folks playing safe

for a quiet life

I despair of clerics reworking scriptures

to exonerate themselves

I empathise with poets transcending light

to justify darkness

yet, party as I am to the whole sorry mess,

at least I can switch off