Race_9togo

Jun 14, 2010 ⭐ View statistics (Premium feature)

Show To Me My Enemy

Who should I really vilify?
the burner of jungles, or who funds the flame?
Show to me my enemy.

When ocean is fouled by contract driller
do I condemn him, or those who back his claim?
Who should I really vilify?

As another profiteering polluter
spews new filth for greed, who really is to blame?
Show to me my enemy.

Where oil becomes a coastline’s murder
should we attack the company, or those who buy its name?
Who should I really vilify?

If cancerous housing is a killer
do we fight the builder, or those who sell the woods and farm?
Show to me my enemy.

For every world-raping avaricious dollar
there is a seller, a buyer, an investor and a harm.
Who should I really vilify?
Show to me my enemy.

— Race_9togo, Jun 14, 2010

About This Poem

About the Author

Region, Country: Earth Vicinity (within a five light-year radius), ZZC

Favorite Poets: John Donne, T.S. Eliot, Serendipity, Emily Dickenson, Kailashana, Charles Bukowski, Kabir, Rett, Dalton, W. B. Yeats, William Blake, Rainer Maria Rilke, and many other Neopoet poets; Neopoet has heavily influenced my poetry and my ability to write it well.

Critiques

raskin

15 years 12 months ago

I am I consume. Tough

I am I consume. Tough problem, all of them. I like to think I is them. Good topical poem. Raskin

Race_9togo

15 years 11 months ago

Thanks

Respectfully Jim "Laws and rules don't kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does" : Race

magics02

15 years 12 months ago

Hey race

Good one here and it seems like a villanelle? It is a great write and makes one think alot. And worthy of a nom. The enemy one of them comes to mind the oil companies. Ugh!! Peace instilled Mona

Race_9togo

15 years 11 months ago

Yes,

It seems like a villanelle, but its not quite there yet because it does not rhyme very well. And yes, oil companies are what I had in mind too. Respectfully Jim "Laws and rules don't kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does" : Race

Seren

15 years 11 months ago

Dear Jim

You've written this well a topic I hold close to my heart well done love and big hugs JayCee x x x ("Quote:-For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.-Ivan Panin")

Race_9togo

15 years 11 months ago

Thanks Jayne

Its rapidly becoming my reason to start fighting back, I think. Respectfully Jim "Laws and rules don't kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does" : Race

Candlewitch

15 years 11 months ago

Dear Jim

A well thought out poem, and yes it does make one think. And what of the consumer and why don't we have an alternative fuel by now? Always, Cat

Race_9togo

15 years 11 months ago

Thanks Cat

We have plenty of alternate fuels. Ethanol, hydrogen, methane, electricity from wind and sun, geothermal, nuclear (not as polluting as everyone wants you to believe). we could have a public transport infrastructure second to none, with electric maglev monorails down the center of every interstate in the country, with cheap, computerized cars taking everyone from point to point, almost to their doorsteps. Its just that too many greedy assholes are raking in too many billions of dollars by using oil for everything for anything to change, and too many short-sighted idiots think polluting the earth isn't as important as easy living, or that owning a brand new house is more important than the wetland or forest that was destroyed in order to build it. Or to be more blunt...dominion is more important that stewardship. And people wonder why I'm a pagan. LOL Glad that you enjoyed my poem, Cat. Respectfully Jim "Laws and rules don't kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does" : Race

Kailashana

15 years 11 months ago

The consumer.“I have met

The consumer. "I have met the enemy, and he is us is"... Pogo God forbid we should ever think through the problems of the world en masse that might affect the *status quo*. Thank you Jim. Always, Anna "There is a kind of mysticism to writing." ~ Irvine Welsh

Race_9togo

15 years 11 months ago

Hi Anna

We think through those problems collectively all the time, in our modern, connected world, and some of the ideas that result are good ones. But when was the last time you saw anyone with real power participate in problem solving? THAT'S the real problem, the smug paternalism of our leaders. Respectfully Jim "Laws and rules don't kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does" : Race

Orphani

15 years 11 months ago

In poetic form this needs

In poetic form this needs work, but the topic is a controversial one and demands some attention. Our enemies: greed, lies, hate, fear, ignorance, envy, jealousy, and a long list of others we are all familiar with. It is easy to name the villains of the world, but harder to accept the complicity within ourselves. Oil is pumped out of the earth because it is profitable and we use it. We all must get involved and take responsibility. The deepest guilt and responsibility of course rests with those who perpetuate our dependence for their own motives and those who see it and remain silent. I would rate complacency as our greatest enemy in a radically changing world that could explode at the coming together of all our human weaknesses. Thanks for this poignant post. Anna and I both weep at the devastating destruction of our precious marine habitats here on the Gulf coast of the U.S. We as a nation are guilty in reducing our carbon footprint. We have had forty years to act and we remain the gluttons of the world. I have met the enemy and it is me. B

Race_9togo

15 years 11 months ago

Hey B,

Profitable for who? Certainly not for you and me. Oh, oil makes our lives EASIER, I'll grant, but none of US are making money be pulling it from the ground. Unless you live on the Gulf Coast, where your business has collapsed, and you spend your days growing increasingly sick, being paid, by the very same culprits who destroyed your way of life, to clean up their stinking mess. I agree, this poem needs work. It is my first villanelle, and I found that task of writing it rather daunting, as I do the task of editing it! But I will. Thanks man, Respectfully Jim "Laws and rules don't kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does" : Race

Candlewitch

15 years 11 months ago

Dear Jim

I came back once more to read. Favorite lines are: For every world-raping avaricious dollar there is a seller, a buyer, an investor and a harm. Who should I really vilify? Show to me my enemy. Always, Cat

Race_9togo

15 years 11 months ago

<grins>

Thank you Cat. Respectfully Jim "Laws and rules don't kill freedom: narrow-minded intolerance does" : Race

scribbler

15 years 11 months ago

enemy

What a great theme of shared responsibility and gray ethics.......scribbler