The Visionary, a Man of Substance
THE VISIONARY, A MAN OF SUBSTANCE
He had a Dream, shared it with the
world;
many listened, but others would not,
(some learn lessons taught, others soon
forget)
given human nature's common inclination
to deny home truths to deserving ears, regardless
of who we are or where we stand on the
need
to bring certain socio-cultural-political
agendas
in line with such common realities as test
its communities, prove how actions
speak louder
than words regarding its flaws
Nor should it matter, the colour of his
skin
only the shades of its naming,
shaming
such pain and prejudices as bigots
feast upon
to show a world inept at stitching its
seams,
patches always at the ready to
cover any flaws,
proof of its failing to put us (all) through
our paces, unite even populaces in those
places
least inclined to acknowledge injustices;
rhetoric, sweetener enough to prevent home
truths
shouting from too many rooftops
All that glisters is not gold nor all
that’s aged
grown old, however much we’ve seen
since time began and taught us how to
dream,
envisaging humanity running true
without
having to shoot down any living thing
too close
for comfort, posing a threat to personal space,
blurring thoughts of a common humanity
in whose future we (all) can play a lead part
by encouraging its more honest brokers
to speak out
on all that's (still) not right with it
Copyright R. N. Taber 2004, rev.2021
[Note: An earlier version of this poem
appears in The Third Eye by R. N. Taber, Assembly
Books, 2001; a later version that appeared on the blog in 2013 has been since revised
again in 2021.] RNT
Labels: collective responsibility, common humanity, global consciousness, human nature, human spirit, life forces, love, Martin Luther King Jnr., personal space, poetry, positive thinking, racism, remembrance, society