We should listen to the quiet people
though it seems they don’t have very much to say
in this world obsessed with who can shout the loudest
perhaps the quiet people know the way.
We should listen to the dreamers:
we have lost capacity for abstract thought
thinking only in terms of profit margins
which in the end will lead to nought
but flood and fire, famine and drought
is this what a successful future holds?
We should start to listen to those quiet people
before this earth-apocalypse unfolds.
We should listen to the voiceless:
the ghosts of creatures already extinct
if we ceased our noise and tuned in to their message
we’d see we are already on the brink.
© 2021 experimentsinfiction.com. All Rights Reserved.
Sharing with earthweal
I woke up with the title in my head early yesterday morning. Perhaps my subconscious reacting to the end of the COP 26 Summit. I’m also still thinking about Sherry’s Great Forgetting challenge. At the moment, I’m reading Watership Down to my eldest son: it’s a book I was both fascinated with and terrified by as a child. Written in 1972, and told from the perspective of anthropomorphised rabbits (yes, it is a little unconventional) how prescient these words seem now:
“It comes from men,” said Holly. “All other elil [enemies] do what they have to do and Frith [the Sun] moves them as he moves us. They live on the earth and they need food. Men will never rest till they’ve spoiled the earth and destroyed the animals.”
Sharing with earthweal’s Open Link Weekend #92.
Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay
Amen!
🙏
There is a recent example here. In the wake of the Brexit vote, one of the movements that emerged was one to discard the first vote, then bave the vote again. It was very loud, had an awful lot of media coverage, and a casual observer could be mistaken for thinking it had strong support.
In fact, there was very little support for it. Electorally-speaking. When people had the chance to vote on it in 2019, when Brexit was by far the biggest issue, still, Johnson won handsomely on a ticket of “just get it done”. He was the only candidate to stand on that ticket.
My point is, one of the ways we can give a voice to the quiet people is through the ballot box.
I didn’t agree with the re-vote, even though I was opposed to Brexit. It’s like tossing a coin and saying ‘we didn’t get heads so let’s toss again to see if we get heads this time.’
Absolutely. Every vote has to be binding, otherwise, why bother voting at all?
Leads to an offshoot observation that no referendums are “advisory”.
Yes, an advisory referendum would be pointless and even more divisive than a binding one!
If course, nowadays votes can be bought…
Meh, I think they always could, somehow or other.
Probably!
I’s kinda scary when you realise that some parties, their aim is to prevent people from voting.
hear, hear!
Four very forthright and profound stanzas Ingrid, and I especially like your second stanza ..maybe I could join up with the dreamers group … .. and coincidently I’m listening to this song at the the moment … and I think you could attach the music/video to your poem ..
https://youtu.be/R-PmyAfQ5xY
Thanks Ivor! I’ll take a look 😊
The first stanza says it all for me. Excellent.
Thank you Hobbo!
Oh, m’lady, you say it so well. I totally agree with your words. The quiet people are the ones to follow. Be more like them is what we should strive for. They speak the right words in their silence. Thanks for writing this one. Each poem extraordinary every time. Never missing a beat. Thanks.
Bless you Selma! And thank you 🙏
If only…
The title is striking and draws in and that is a very prophetic except that you have shared.
Sadly, it is those shouting the loudest who make important decisions.
Unfortunately so, for now at least! Thank you Punam ❤️
You are welcome.
Great message Ingrid and yes we should. I totally agree!💖
Thanks Cindy 💕💕
you”re so welcome!💖
love this so much, ingrid, well written and just fantastic
Thank you Rishika 🙏
A fantastic piece and read. Well done, Ingrid! Your poem reminds me of the book: Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking. If you haven’t read it I highly recommend it. It gave me tremendous insight into how the world is slanted toward the loudest voices and into my own quiet personality. I love that you are reading Watership Down to your son. Awesome! Reading aloud with our kids is the best! I still read to mine, when she lets me. 😊
Thanks for the book recommendation! I love reading aloud, and it helps me with my poetry readings of course 😊
You are welcome. Enjoy. I would lend you my copy, but the drive is a bit far. 😄 Yes, of course! 💗 And what reading aloud to children does for early literacy… I could go on!
I fear the summit really was just blah blah blah, again. As they say, actions speak louder than words. And you are correct, we should pay attention to those making a difference by the way they live, not by how loudly they can shout about it. (K)
It does seem that way unfortunately.
We are already on the brink indeed. I think humans stay noisy so they dont have to know this. Sigh. Such a thought-provoking poem. Glad you are spreading the word. Your comment about blah blah blah…….I so agree – Trudeau with his easy words, his stern glance, his “we must”……..yet Canada funnels 12 billion a year into fossil fuels and FOUR to climate change. It is beyond frustrating how leaders just bide their time, to pass the problem along to someone else, especially in climate breakdown such as we are experiencing.
Yes, we are going to pass this down to our children, if they are lucky enough to have a future. It seems the changes are happening faster than we even know how to process.
We do seem to be living in a time when whoever shouts the loudest wins.
As an aside, I love when I wake up with or something just sparks a line of poetry in my head.
Except that nobody wins in the end in this scenario 😳
It is nice when the muse wakes us with some ready-made lines!
Yes, you’re right–I was thinking more of the short-term political fights.
It is! 😀
I love everything you’re writing lately. How do you find a way to let all the words out like that? Mine seem stuck inside and won’t form clear thoughts on the page.
Sometimes they just come out like that! I’ve found the trick is not to try too hard.
The older I get, the more I appreciate the quiet. I tend to find anything too raucous insufferable.
I know what you mean!
I love the quiet places, within and without. A very powerful poem Ingrid.
Thank you Carol!
Oh, that is wonderful Ingrid and so true…..
Thanks Kim!
I agree. We need to hear a diverse rangee of voices. Your poem puts it very well.
Thank you Suzanne!
A gorgeous poem and a powerful message, Ingrid! I totally agree with everything you have said! The last verse was particularlly poignant, urging us to hear the voices of extinct animals. Humanity seems bent on also becoming extinct as well.
Have a good week! <3
Thanks Cheryl, you too 🥰
Loved it. Simple and clean words with a meaning for us all.
Thank you 🙏
Such a poignant reminder woven with such striking words. Thank you.
Thank you kindly!
Such a poignant message woven with striking words. Thank you.