Selfish Prayer

Not to be confused with a religious poem, this is about self-loathing. The juxtaposition of the wishes of people in the developed world with those of the third world. There is no rythem no rhyme and no verse its not subtle or cryptic in anyway. The reason behind it is that the situation, my message had to be unequivocal, i wanted every single person to read it to considr both there own situation and that of the third world. These lines are prayers, the voices i want the reader to hear in there head, there questions are adressed at you, because you have to answer.  

The first section ends with the line "god help me" a phrase people needlessly overuse that highlights the selfish wishes of us all. The second section starts "God help us"  echoing the last line but using the opposite word "us", less selfish and also plural, touching on the scale of there problem. The delineation change mirrors the disorder of the continent and gives the effect of several different voices.

I used evocative metaphors such as "emaciated flower" and "infinite spitting carpet" to represent the scorching desert planes of Africa and a means struggle to carry his dying child across them. The "malevolent man made plague" is a reference to Aids and the suggestion that it was in some way caused by man, not necessarily my view but a common hypothesis. The line "why do you take the whisper from our mouth" is a metaphor of how a continents dying whisper is ignored by the leaders of the richest nations. " Why wont mummy wakeup?" projects a horrid pathos tableaux as we hear the child's voice alongside her mothers icy bloodless body. I also refer to the dictatorships of Africa and the anger and frustration of there life. Also the last voice " hear me scratching" someone's desperation as they experience there final moments of life or a loved ones final moment, the reader can almost feel the pain they are going through.

 Finally "gods response .............." This makes the poem incomplete and draws the reader in on a personal level. It is now you that has been asked these questions and down to you to give the response because ultimately we are gods response.