2021. Ah, This was the year that was… Propaganda over policies Power over principles Pandemic over protection. A Whittling away of democracy Lack of accountability Politicians playacting Where shadowed maestros play the tune That we all dance to. A corrupted system Orchestrated by robber barons of old made new With graft now unashamedly done in public The old boys protected at every turn. Falsehoods and fallacies overtake truth as myth The cult of me over the community of we Avarice prostrated as good Elitism and entitlement rule And we stay in indentured servitude Service industries A so called gig economy A mockery Of what is just and true. With blatant fascism and racism Now proudly on display Drumbeats of war to distract us Talk continues to be cheap Deaths in custody continue unabated A national woman’s movement Decrying subjugation, rape, their hurt Cheerily do-opted and then ignored A web of lies spun from every orifice While men in power positions continue to escape their rightful day in court. The disabled remain invisible A footnote consigned to oblivion Our wealth before their health Swept away A dirty secret ignored. The continual demise of biodiversity A clock ticking down on the climate Code red, klaxons blaring Unheard. What did we learn? For the fires that swept through our nation will surely return And all the co-branding of resilience The isolationism from our global brotherhood Where we ignore wave upon waves of new virulent pandemics That beat incessantly on others shores It will mean nought. For what lies ahead of us? Will we see that the bleakness of 2021 Was but a child's game? And bring to bear a new reality That we can no longer spin away Our truth will be to wish To plead That it was the previous year Where destiny can be prevented Where there is time to change The course of what lies ahead. What did we really learn? Ah, 2021. It was the year that was.
The Spoken Word 