I am saying sorry
for the illusions
I wanted to give you
enchantment
Sea World dolphins
orcas, splashes of blue water
I am sorry for the cruelty
the ugly side of fascination
I am saying sorry
for the poisons
we breathe
the bleached corals
the leopards and tigers
elephants and turtles
the species we endanger
I am saying sorry
for the violence
the guns
the officer’s knee
the never-ending list
of names
victims of the law
I am sorry for the boundless abuse
I am saying sorry
for the slaughter
the “war”
the genocide
the severed limbs of children
bodies beneath the rubble
the hunger and thirst
bombs and missiles
fighter jets
more bombs and missiles
and fighter jets
I am sorry for the wreckage
the assaults on human decency
I am saying sorry for the complicity
of “leaders”
in spaces of power
and on university campuses
I am saying sorry
for the lies
that fall from their lips
I am saying sorry
over and over
faster and faster
I am saying I love you
I am saying I am proud
of where you stand
.
Roxanne Doty
.
With our sorrow at the state of the world, we voice our failures as individuals to challenge the greed of our age. We are full of love, we tried the best we could.
Comment by Tracey Chippendale-Gammell on 27 July, 2024 at 10:13 amThank you Roxanne: this is one of the most important statements of our time, if not of all time. Every stanza of this poem should be savoured, whilst its meaning deserves – demands – to be distilled and made a part of us, perhaps even to be chiseled onto a national monument in every country. There really are no words of praise high enough to do full justice to this piece. And if I seem too effusive in my praise, then so be it.
Comment by Mark Hyne on 27 July, 2024 at 12:03 pm