"Change" - 100,000 Poets for Change - SEPTEMBER 24th 2011

Poem / recitation to publicise the 100,000 Poets for Change event happening worldwide on SEPTEMBER 24th 2011.

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"CHANGE"
www.100tpc.org
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Change - it is a challenge
For every man to change his heart
For no man hates so bitter
As those who think themselves liberal
For the hate that they have
Be it great or small
Is a hatred not from ignorance
But from conviction.

Change - it is a dream
As stated by Martin Luther King
A dream all men should have
When it is how you live that you should be judged
How you treat your fellow man
Not your skin colour or creed
Politics, wealth or lack of same
Privilege of birth, or lowliness of ancestry
That makes you what you are.

Change - its in your heart
All men possess hatred
Its mankinds natural protection
The tribe - the family - we want the best for our own
That is good: it is only bad when we strive
To have what's good for our own
At the expense of the welfare of another.
Don't let love for yourself and yours
Lead to hatred of another.

Change - it is the duty
Of every man of faith and none
To make the world a better place
For our children to come
For the most important environment
Is not the sky, the rivers and the lakes
- For even the Nazis cared for the welfare of animals -
But the environment within which all men live.

Change - a project for writers
100,000 - for a day
If a writer can reach a hundred hearts
Let each poem be a prayer
To reach ten million - and for life
Let that be your prayer to God
As you know and worship Him
And let change start within yourself
Be you the first step in the journey of a thousand miles
Lead by example, while yet not being proud
And let us bring change... one heart at a time.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• change
• belief
• politics
• poetry
• Obama
• USA
• love
• respect
• no to racism
• peace color

[tomasocarthaigh]

100000 Poets for Change was a great success!!!

[2001Horatio]

Conservatives are pledged to prevent change... so we urgently need the drive provided by liberals... look it up!

[tomasocarthaigh]

@2001Horatio I dint mean political liberals as a party, but those who think themselves liberal but yet espouse massive prejeduce... the likes of those who applaud a black president but still object to gypsies camping beside them, the kind who espouse ecumenicalism, yet hate Muslims, and so forth.

As for the 3rd and the 1st not matching, its free verse, so it doesnt have to. Im not going to place one in for patterns sake. Poets privilige, eh?

BTW, Im not gone on Concervatives myself!!!

[tomasocarthaigh]

@tomasocarthaigh Sorry for the spelling mistakes, thunder thumbs on the keyboard tonite!!! lol!!!

[2001Horatio]

@tomasocarthaigh Thanks for clarifying that tom... I always like to 'tie down' the definition of "liberal" (or other words) being used by others before getting into an argument. I use the definition in the Oxford English Dictionary and wouldn't dream of entering into a conversation or argument with someone using a different definition - otherwise the conversation would wandering pointlessly! Using the OED definition, "liberals' cannot 'hate' Muslims or espouse prejudice...

[tomasocarthaigh]

@2001Horatio As we dont have a formal Liberal party in Ireland (or hadnt since 1922!!!) the term Liberal when spelled with a small "l" means those who describe themselves as liberal but in fact have rather entrenched views. Being educated they should be better but are not.

A fools pass of ignorance can often be given to the conservatives, as lack of education and / or experience can be the source of their hatreds, which often change when they meet good people among those who they despise.

[2001Horatio]

@tomasocarthaigh Again, my own opinion, is that Conservatism is a socially accepted psychopathology based on fear. A "liberal" is a person who actually does, rather than claims to, possess the characteristics listed in the dictionary definition of "liberal" (see OED). Liberals cannot by definition hold entrenched views or prejudices. People who so do... are NOT liberals. Sorry

[2001Horatio]

@tomasocarthaigh No... "liberal" means what is says in the OED: otherwise you'd have people who are for instance as dumb as fuck describing themselves as "clever" - the dictionary definition, in other words, supersedes ignoramus' misuse of the word. I think you'll agree this is logical. Also - though my own personal bias is that liberals (as in dictionary definition) are more educated than conservatives - it ain't necessarily so.

[2001Horatio]

@tomasocarthaigh The solution is clear of course: if you encounter someone purporting to be a 'liberal' but they have ignorant, entrenched, hypocritical, racist or intolerant views CHALLENGE them (I used to carry the definition of "liberal' around with me to shut them up) and then use their beliefs and behaviours to re-label them: I used to do this with American Evangelical Christians all the time; it's so easy to demonstrate that they do not follow the teachings of Jesus and are not Christians

[2001Horatio]

@tomasocarthaigh I realize "Liberal" usually connotes the Liberal Party and 'liberal' is an adjective describing ideas, ideals, ideology or even people but if these people do not exhibit the characteristics outlined in the definition of "liberal" in the OED then they are not "liberals" - they have been mislabeled by others or have mislabeled themselves - what you are describing are 'hypocrites' not 'liberals'. By definition a liberal cannot have entrenched views.