Description: This piece was inspired after reading a few stories regarding the situations of today. At first, I had thought of painting a poem that described the beating of a Middle Eastern man by government hired thugs only to contrast the image as happening here in America rather than just in the protests in areas such as Egypt and Libya. But I decided against it...at least for now...as the words just didn't come out right.
So instead, I started to go with imagery. It is a rudimentary piece and I don't feel it to be perfect but it does express my perspective. Yes, this piece is in regards to #OWS and similar situations. It does pertain to the clashes between police and protestors.
And to be clear...I do not see the OWS protestors as 'yearning for the green' as yearning for bailouts or hand-outs. The green field is more a representation. The truth of the matter is that the OWS and other Occupy Movements is about the corruption we have come to see in our government and those who have benefited from it. We live in a society that is now at the brink of major decisions...we are in a time of history where rebellion, revolution, and uprisings are repeating much like they did centuries before when the 'Season of Revolution' swept the world.
I hope, that ultimately, true change will happen...that the government is reformed and grows closer to the ideals it was built upon rather than the decadent military-industrial complex is has become enslaved to at current. I hope you enjoyed The Green Field.
The Green Field -------------------------------------------
The herd moves, sensing the vast green field
They ply forward, braying and calling
A dull roar of their voices
Echoing, howling, ignored
Then, the dogs arrive
They bark...growl...intimidate
Preventing the mass from the hill
Baring fangs with vicious snarls
The herd mills around
Desperate, weary, and hungry
So close, yet barred by the dogs
Corralled into boxes and lines
Clashes are inevitable
Canines flash and bite
Lansing and nipping away
Pushing them further back
The herd roar in pain
As blood has been drawn
The confused are dragged down by the pack
Branded and marked by the ranchers
The dogs become feral at the sanguine scent
The ranchers watch the violence upon the herd
Watch them get bloodied further by the would-be wolves
They say nothing for they are their loyal dogs
The herd can only stare on
Wishing for the green field before them
The ranchers hold them to their pen
Waiting until the turn of the season
The herd is now unwanted
The cold season has come
A reaping is to be had upon the gathering
As the ranchers give the dogs their orders
The savage pack descends, now unleashed
Herding the mass to the trucks
Destroying the pen, breaking those who fight
Stragglers are caught, the rest chased away
The green field still sits, secure
Untouched but by the ranchers
Not even the dogs may go there
Tossed bones to keep them at bay
The remaining herd stares sullenly
Wounded but not broken
They can still see the grass wave before them
Still tired...still weary...still hungry
I really like this piece. It's really echoing something I've felt too, that this OWS movement is really just about personal interest and not about the greater good. I read this in the first line in the reference to the green fields. People are out there protesting only because of money and not against the war like they should have. In contrast to the anti war protests during the Vietnam war this paints a picture of the decadence in this society. Back then they protested against the war out of compassion and not because of personal interest, nowadays people are only protesting because they have reached a new state of personal poverty because of this war and not out of empathy for other human beings. I don't know if I've interpreted the poem perfectly as I was never a fan of Animal Farm by Orwell and I see some motifs inspired from it in this poem. Anyway you wrote a good poem and it made me think about the state of the world in general and not about personal problems in like most poems on this site. Keep on writing!!!
Submission Name: The Green Field
