! 'We Read The World Wrong...'...Worse Than That... Poem by Michael Shepherd

! 'We Read The World Wrong...'...Worse Than That...

Rating: 3.1


Yes – we read the world wrong,
and say that it deceives us,
said Tagore…

just imagine, if the snake said,
you can’t see me… no, I’m just
a stick of rotting wood,
a length of old rope thrown away,
mouldering in the undergrowth…

or the rope said, I’m reborn!
I’m now a snake, I’ve risen in intelligence
and consciousness – watch out, all those
who treated me so harshly as a rope...

or the shell said, how beautiful I am!
I’m mirrored all like silver;
once I was a humble shell,
content to be myself; now -
how precious now I am!

Or the silver coin said,
I’ll hide here in the sand
and look like mother-of-pearl, nacreous,
and wait to give myself
to some delighted beggar…
how virtuous I am; and how
rewarded I shall be!

no, Nature, prakriti, has never learned
from Man, how to deceive…

ah, but mankind… how we deceive
our mother, Nature… we promised her
we would look after her in her old age…
but all we did was steal her wealth,
cast her into a filthy wilderness,
pretend to others that
she never was of our family
but an untouchable who works for us…

oh Rabindranath, what would you think
of the behaviour of your grand-children…
oh Rabindranath, you never guessed
how we’ve deceived our world…

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Alison Cassidy 06 September 2007

Thank God there are poets like your and your friend Tagore who read the world right and use words wisely to show us our folly. Another one for my collection of 'Allie's thoughts'. Bless you for the accessibility of your poems. And their thoroughly satisfying phrasing and form. love, Allie xxxxxxxxxx

0 0 Reply

M, I'm with Ted on this one; I find it a wonderful, pensive, spiritual poem, and I am more convinced of humankind's ability to both destroy, and decieve, itself - on a mass and individual level. But personal beliefs don't detract one iota from the quality of this poem - which is massive. t x

0 0 Reply
Ted Sheridan 06 September 2007

I like the poem very much, I just don't believe it man's ability to destroy the earth. However, I do believe in man's ability to destroy himself. Having said that, I try not to litter. LOL

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Michael Shepherd

Michael Shepherd

Marton, Lancashire
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