Creating my own meaning
Out of nothingness.
Tohu lebohu,
As Genesis states.

Hair stands on end;
Leg jitter jumps
Up and down,
Up and down
To banish the pain.

Scarecrows eat corn,
Nannies neglect babies.
The U.N. forgets suffering
In so many impoverished lands.
Dogs lick burglars’ hands.

Right is wrong
And wrong is right.
Peace accords are meaningless;
Solutions are code for problems.
Buffer zones fade away;
Shelling ensues.

Settlers take more land
Promised to others.
Native men live in concentration camps
Called reservations.

Booze enlightens,
Then poisons.
Cigarettes veil confusion,
Which always returns.

Oil is seawater;
Don’t look; it’s gone,
We promise.
They always promise.

Turtles and great tortoises killed,
Whales are harpooned,
Rhinos and elephants shot.

Humans are made slaves.
Diamond and gold mines,
Prostitutes in Asia,
Factory workers in China
Leap to their deaths.

And someone says,
Don’t build that here,
Let the block remain vacant,
Rather than a mosque;
It hurts our feelings.

As if all Muslims were terrorists.
Not all Christians are,
Not all Jews are,
But all have had their share historically.

Strong beliefs bring conflict.
No one is guiltless.
We are free to practice
These ancient myths.
But should we?
Those who take holy books, literally?

On and on the news cycle goes.
It’s surreal.
Can this much pain exist
On any given day?

Millions are displaced
From Syria and Iraq,
Assad and ISIS.
Young men help torturers
Because they’re lonely and bored;
They need to feel important,
A part of something,
Lured into this violent new caliphate.

Soldiers climb the mountains,
Are shot at or blasted
By roadside bombs.
Another axel,
Another body to carry home.
A withdrawal from the wars
Where fear now reigns,
Worse than the dictators
The Arab spring trampled,
Changing one tyrant for another.

Wall Street gambles
With taxpayers’ money,
Takes another billion or twenty
In bonus rewards.
Bought Congress’
Repeals of rules to prevent,
Another crash

Insurance companies deny
Another claim
Just to see if we’ll give up
From sheer exhaustion,
As the cancer eats away
Our hopes and dreams,
That the fragile ACA
Begins to resolve.

And I sit at my desk,
Wondering why I care.
How I am not yet numb
From the nonstop sirens
Wailing across the planet?

I can’t give up,
At least not today.
Ask me again tomorrow,
I cannot say.