The Ironies Of Human Rights Poem by Denis Martindale

I wonder if I dare to write of human rights at all,
When there are those content to fight, enough to make me fall,
And those who strive to change the laws to steal our rights away,
Regardless of so many flaws, no matter what I say.
I wonder if I dare to think, or go to sleep to dream,
When others wouldn't stop to blink before they crushed each scheme,
Or take the credit for each task, yes, every single time,
And each suggestion, when folks ask, that they believed sublime.
I wonder if I dare to move, some other place to go,
When governments can disapprove, the second that they know,
With those who march from state to state, as one strong show of force,
To demonstrate how much they hate the thought of open doors.
I wonder if the Lord above regards my human rights,
When there are rules, more than enough for all my days and nights,
For your good, child, I hear Him say, and thus I comprehend,
As if He tells me when I pray, your Father, not your friend.
I wonder if I, too, would change, if I should have a son,
As if his life to rearrange, with new rules one by one,
I'm not content to let that be, to reign upon a throne,
Since married life won't do for me, I choose to live alone.


Denis Martindale. December 2021.