Barren Land Poem by C Richard Miles

And I looked out that day
And saw a barren land,
Though it had trees enough
And flower-filled fields enough
And grassy green enough,
It still seemed bleak and bare.

And I looked out and, lo,
The land was barren still,
Though it had birds enough
And shoals of fish enough
And swarms of bees enough,
It still seemed stark and spare.

And I looked out and yet
The land still barren lay:
It had no heart enough;
It had no hope enough;
It had no truth enough,
Since conscience couldn’t care.

For man had stripped it bare
And dulled the greenery
And spoiled the scenery
And killed the pleasantness
And spilled the cheerfulness
And filled the land with fear.

And from his selfishness
No gladdening heart could spring
And from his malcontent
No healing hope could sprout
And from deceitfulness
No shining truth could stare.

And so the barren land
Lay blasted, burnt and bare
With man’s inconstancy
And inhumanity
As I looked out that day,
That day not far from here.