https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R._N._Taber
The rise in knife crime and street crime generally in recent years - especially among
young people - is a tragic (and scary) indictment of UK society in a still
relatively young 21st century. While there is no single cause, cuts
in policing levels has meant there is little if any visible police presence on
our streets while cuts in funding for youth services has almost certainly
contributed to a growing drugs culture in many areas which, in turn, can be directly
related to rising crime rates there.
It is all very well for politicians to point out that statistics (who trusts those?) point to the overall rate of violent
crime having take a downward turn, but that is small comfort to the families
and friends of people (all ages) losing their lives every day; for parents, especially,
the loss of a child is a life sentence, but to know that a son or daughter died
needlessly, in violent circumstances must
cause unimaginable pain.
I have been beaten up in the distant past for being gay, but
live to tell the tale at 73 years-old. A nervous breakdown at 30 led to a
suicide attempt which, thankfully, failed or I would have missed the best years
of my life; among its ups and downs, enough of the former to put the latter in
the shade.
All violent crimes denying victims the basic human right to follow
their chosen paths in life are tragedies for which no words can do justice; the
younger the victim, though, so much worse the tragedy in the sense that these
are being deprived of the opportunity to enjoy
life, explore and make something of their natural potential, become the person
they were meant to be by virtue of nature and nurture. It is a sick mind-body-spirit, indeed, that commits any violent crime, the cure (and cause) for which can often be found to lie at the heart of the very society that has fallen foul of it.
Given that the perpetrators as well as victims of the
current wave of violent, especially knife crime here in the UK are young
people, society is clearly failing them, and society is the perennial you-me-us;
that’s parents, teachers, politicians, religious leaders, police, social workers
and anyone with a social conscience. We need to identify and tackle its root
causes, each in our own way, and share
any findings if only to discover how to prevent a worsening crisis getting even
worse.
“There will be no justice as long as man
will stand with a knife or with a gun and destroy those who are weaker than he
is.” - Isaac Bashevis Singer
“The knife is more dangerous than the hand and the knife can
be in either hand.”
Frank Herbert, Dune
STREET CRIME, A COWARD'S AGENDA or SOCIETY, SICK AT HEART?
Hanging out in the park
with friends, enjoying music
on a new iPad,
putting the world to rights,
planting seeds
of love and peace along the way,
and nurturing them
Aware of others in the park,
but only for their long shadows
in spring sunshine
like benign ghosts looking on,
needing to feel alive
if only for sharing someone else’s
precious moments
In a bubble of personal space;
past-present-future,
a glorious panorama embracing
all mind-body-spirit
seeks to inspire once its flowers
come into season, each to their own
as nature intended
Only a fool uses a knife to burst
a bubble just to see
sunshine being swallowed whole
by a predatory darkness,
mind-body-spirit engaging
with time and space to book its place
among the immortals
Looking on from a passing cloud
at the funeral below
of a young person cruelly cut down
in their prime, victim
of someone’s desire to make a point
if only to earn him (or her) a sick sense
of self-importance
At a graveside, no hot tears shed
can heal a broken heart
that may well mend (in part, at least)
since love never dies,
its presence in Gardens of Memory
the world over, inspiring us to keep faith
with it, now and always
As for any who play at being a god
by taking a life meant
to run its natural course, be sure
(regrets or none …)
their remains will grow but as weeds,
mind-body-spirit the poorer soil for want
of either nutrients or nurture
Copyright
R N Taber 2019