Reaching 90 in 2020
POETRY FORMAT, 16 Nov 2020
Richard Falk | Global Justice in the 21st Century – TRANSCEND Media Service
A year darkly memorable
Months before the pandemic
Before George Floyd’s martyrdom
Trump stalking the ramparts
Issuing cowardly murder decrees
While I mourn each monstrous death
Among the vultures
The bodies started piling up soon after
The new year’s welcoming bells
Three days later
All iran mourned Qasem Soleimani’s death
Murdered by drone—his crime: seeking peace
A toxic reckoning an omen
From a toxic White House
The start of this toxic time
And yet
Breathing clean air
In Yalikavak
Inhaling the love
Of those I love and cherish
Makes me believe
Being alive being not alone at 90
Is sacred a dwelling
Among now reticent gods
True darkness descends
Midday on earth
For iconic deaths
Angels are weeping
For children for lost love
For Soleimani for Floyd
For magnificent animals
Plundered for fun for gain
Imprisoned as jungles empty
True lords of our earth
While whales wander with wonder
Dethroned sovereigns of the seas
At 90 amid the joy of being
A judgment haunts me
Reached by a black woman poet
‘We were never meant to survive.’
*****************
Yalikavak, Turkey
November 13, 2030
__________________________________________
Richard Falk is a member of the TRANSCEND Network, an international relations scholar, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, Distinguished Research Fellow, Orfalea Center of Global Studies, UCSB, author, co-author or editor of 60 books, and a speaker and activist on world affairs. In 2008, the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) appointed Falk to two three-year terms as a United Nations Special Rapporteur on “the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967.” Since 2002 he has lived in Santa Barbara, California, and associated with the local campus of the University of California, and for several years chaired the Board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. His most recent book is On Nuclear Weapons, Denuclearization, Demilitarization, and Disarmament (2019).
Go to Original – richardfalk.org
Tags: Poetry, Richard Falk
DISCLAIMER: The statements, views and opinions expressed in pieces republished here are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of TMS. In accordance with title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. TMS has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is TMS endorsed or sponsored by the originator. “GO TO ORIGINAL” links are provided as a convenience to our readers and allow for verification of authenticity. However, as originating pages are often updated by their originating host sites, the versions posted may not match the versions our readers view when clicking the “GO TO ORIGINAL” links. This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond ‘fair use’, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.