Pause For Poetry:
Michael Hawkes /86
Angst
January 26, 2025
A poem by Michael Hawkes
If you don’t have angst
What DO you have?
Where ARE you at?
What IS your attitude?
Do you smoke much dope?
Are you full of hope?
Are you striving for beatitude?
If you don’t have angst
Do you trust the banks?
Believe in bombs n’ love those tanks?
Have faith in politicians’ pranks?
And heed the pundits’ platitudes?
Politically and socially
There never can be liberty
Alongside servitude.
The powers that be, Belligerently,
Will dominate society
If given enough latitude.
While synagogues and the holy see
Keep pious flocks on dusty knees
Bowed low in gratitude.
Meanwhile the hungry one percent
Remain hell bent
On gobbling up earth’s amplitude.
The world’s wounds worsen
Its climates threaten
We cannot know the magnitude.
If you’re un-afraid of flood and fire
And do not see our fates as dire,
Do you aspire to something higher
On the strength of your own rectitude?
If you don’t have angst
What IS your game?
How do YOU stay sane?
What IS your aptitude?
09/11/22 – Hawkes
Feature image: Stephen Leonardi, Pexels
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Michael Hawkes’ prophetic poem is more urgent than ever, given the recent decision by Trump regime to Drill, Baby Drill and reluctance of our meat eating societies to adopt a plant based diet, move away from SUVs, etc. And bigger and bigger internet servers requiring ever more energy will add another nail to the coffin. I believe extinction is not inevitable, but we are running out of time to act.