We live in a world

We live in a world

We live in a world of narrow minds,
Of bigotry, of hypocrisy and of injustice.
We close our ears to others righteous cries
For justice, for decency and for freedom.
Because it doesn't suit us,
It doesn't fit in with our plans.
And yet when we ourselves are wronged
Is it not we who scream the loudest,
Rage the most about the wrongness of it all?
And then we stand momentarily for what is right,
Like a wave stands upon the shore,
Transitory, for one fleeting moment.
Then we add our loud, indignant voice
To that of the roaring multitude.
Then we do what is right, as it suits us,
When it is in our interests
And then it is gone, eluding even a memory
And we return to our comfortable prejudices,
To our lies and our unreasoning beliefs
Whilst outside the people suffer still.

13/01/1990