Flood

Where I live in the last years floods have increased. Streets turned into rivers, paddocks became lakes and the worst for some people was that their houses were flooded.

We had to be evacuated once in Holland as the dikes nearly broke but luckily we could return safely after a week.

One reason of increased floods is people building more cities in flood prone areas.

Mostly it is however because of global warming. Any damaging substance people release in the atmosphere is an air pollutant, like CO2 from cars and airplanes and methane from gas emitted by livestock. These are some of the causes of global warming which increases the temperature of the earth's oceans and atmosphere. 

The increased temperature leads to more intensity and frequency of droughts, tsunamis, hurricanes, typhoons and floods.
So there you go. We're in for some wetness. 

recent flooding in Christchurch

Prompt for Poets United:  Flood

Flood

Raindrops splashing on the street
exploding into bouncing beads
raising a raging thunderstorm
with a roar and a rumble

A river meandering through town
charcoal clouds looming above
releasing a relentless rainfall
striking the streets with speed

The Eerie sound of a rushing
river, gulping the rain,
spewing murky water
into every seam of life

Me, flooded with thoughts
gazing at the reflection
of destruction asking:
“Mother earth, again? Why?”

An awkward silence follows
as I look at bobbing bottles
as I inhale the stench of
toxins terrorising her.

Futuristic

photo prompt by Artycaptures
for flash fiction for aspiring writers

Futuristic

Vaguely she heard a voice saying, “Reanimation in progress, heart function ok,  ..” Lisa slowly opened her eyes and a dark voice said to her” Hello, welcome to the year 2117. 

A man wearing a black tunic said: “You have been in a capsule for a 100 years Lisa. First you will have to go through some tests”. 

She started to remember things again. Her family had died in a car crash and a friend who was a scientist was involved in the process of cryogenically freezing human beings. She had become fascinated by it and had offered herself for the process and there she was. 

She told the man she was starving and if she could get a meal first. "Of course", he said and he came back with a cup with a brown gooey stuff bubbling out of it. “I would like a meal” she stuttered. He said “this is what we take now. We don’t have meals as such anymore.”

163 words

Kentsugi: Art of mending

I loved researching the wonderful concept of Kintsugi. It is an art and part of the Japanese worldview of Wabi Sabi. Kintsugi or Wabi Sabi appreciates everything which is old or broken. When a piece of pottery is broken they mend the broken parts with gold so it is becomes stronger and more beautiful than before.

It also made me think of the words of Leonard Cohen. "There is a crack in everything, that's where the light comes in

or of the wonderful words from the book the Velveteen Rabbit

You know it all gives us permission to be imperfect, as nothing is perfect. We however often focus on our shortcomings but that is our platform to grow from, to get more beautiful and stronger :)

It gives us permission to love ourselves with all our imperfections. You are better able to accept and understand others when you do and there is less room for judgement. Love will have lots of space. So be all that is you.

Source

Poets United Prompt Kintsugi: Art of mending

Oh beautiful imperfection

Oh, beautiful imperfection

of broken parts of pottery
strengthened by golden joinery
mend by the art of Kintsugi 

Oh beautiful imperfection

It is part of our attraction

we connect through our wounds

develop a supportive unity

Oh, beautiful imperfection

An underrated reflection
of a side of us that’s broken
and filled and build with mastery

Oh, beautiful imperfection

Our scars, a symbol of strength
they are the proof of healing

Revealing new spaces for growth

Oh, beautiful imperfection
Open the door to liberty
desert deceit and choose
depth over superficiality

The parcel

Flash fiction for aspiring writers

photo by Dorothy

"Ok William, good you are here, as we must pick up a parcel. We'll have to take the tandem”

“A tandem?” Said William
“Don’t worry I show you what to do. I do the steering. I shift gear, you shift gear. We should paddle fast as it is of life importance that we pick up the parcel before 4.00 pm.”
“ Why?” asked William
“There is no time to lose. Come.”

 They setoff and Michael raised his voice. “Go left - Shift to third gear – Careful, a hole in the road.”
“What”? screamed William.  “A hoooooole”. Suddenly they lost their balance.
“Are you ok” asked Michael.
“I think so” said William. “My leg hurts.”
“Quick only 5 minutes to go.” 

They went back on the bike. Michael spotted the automatic gates which were slowly closing. “Come” said Michael "We have to go through there” They went faster and faster but the gate completely closed just when they arrived.

163 words

Quote of the day

"When you go out into the woods, and you look at trees, you see all these different trees. And some of them are bent, and some of them are straight, and some of them are evergreens, and some of them are whatever. And you look at the tree and you allow it. You see why it is the way it is. You sort of understand that it didn't get enough light, and so it turned that way. And you don't get all emotional about it. You just allow it. You appreciate the tree.

The minute you get near humans, you lose all that. And you are constantly saying 'You are too this, or I'm too this.' That judgment mind comes in. And so I practice turning people into trees. Which means appreciating them just the way they are." - Ram Dass. 

Human trafficking

The following statistics are from 2012. As people trafficking is the fastest growing international crime in the world, the numbers will have gone up significantly

Source:  the (UNODC) United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

• "600,000 to 800,000 women, children and men bought and sold across international borders every year and exploited for forced labor or commercial sex (U.S. Government)
• When internal trafficking victims are added to the estimates, the number of victims annually is in the range of 2 to 4 million
• 50% of those victims are estimated to be children
•  It is estimated that 76 percent of transactions for sex with underage girls start on the Internet
•  50% of those victims are estimated to be children
• 2 million children are subjected to prostitution in the global commercial sex trade (UNICEF)
• There are 20.9 Million victims of Trafficking World wide as of 2012
•  1.5 Million victims in the United States"

source

I have seen a heart breaking movie, based on a true story, a few years ago. It was about a girl from Eastern Europe, who was promised to get a job. Her passport was taken and she ended up as a sex slave. My poem is based on her.

Prompt human trafficking for Poets United

      

Human trafficking

Sparkling eyes,
the kind young
dreams are made off
lured with bait
of a better future,
Bait thrown out
by the greedy ones.
A girl caught in the net
of human trafficking

Her tears silenced,
in a dried up well
Shackled in shame,
teared down by
sex obsessed beasts,
dressed in designer suits
ripping out the soul
of a girl as young
as their daughter

The eyes of the world
don’t meet hers
don’t record what’s going 
on in their backyard
There is shopping to do