Am I Shocked? 

Chinese autocracy, lack of democracy, America’s hypocrisy

Am I shocked?

Sean Bell 50 shots from hell, a tragedy to tell, but… the  

Genocide in Darfur unable to quell

Am I shocked?

60 years of the Israeli state, Palestinians remain irate, decades

of unrelenting mutual hate

Am I shocked?

Bear Sterne and the mortgage brokers bailed out by the U.S.,

sub-prime mess, homeowners with less

Am I shocked?

3 senators campaigning endlessly for the presidency, mostly   

talk, one a hawk, I’ll take a walk

Am I shocked?

Leave no child behind, teach to the test, are we the best,

intellectualism at rest

Am I shocked?

Our occupation of Iraq, this year’s dead and wounded civilian

      and soldiers by the score, the military contractors asking for

more, why not serve another tour?

Am I shocked?

Thee oil companies a cabal with 121 billion in profits, high prices  at the pump,

the economy in a slump, the new God of industry Donald Trump

Am I shocked?

40 years after the assassination of Dr. King, segregation in public ed.,

a racial schism that far from dead, it’s a dilemma in America’s head  

Am I shocked?   

The pharmaceutical industry ruled the day, doctors are the

   new drug dealers, straying from being healers, their office

filled with prescription mailers

Am I shocked?

In our fast food nation, cholesterol and trans fats in the diet,

super-large try it, obese people may one day riot

Am I shocked?

Dylan song “With God On Our Side”, why would he select

one nation, without a declaration,  leading to frustration

Am I shocked?

Half the world’s population lives on less than $2 a day. How

can this be true? Does it affect you? What can we do?

Am I shocked?

3 million years of evolution, our brain capacity advances,

computer technology enhances, with on-going conflicts,

does humanity have anymore chances?

Am I shocked?

          What’s my role as a poet? Should I continue to write or cast

my pen into the night and join the fight.

I am shocked!

 by Alan Braverman