We Need Change
23 March 2019
Papua New Guinea's literary awards in the Crocodile Prize are preparing for a big revival later in 2019
ANNIE DORI
Winner of the 2017 Crocodile Prize Poetry Award
The voice of a child begs for a touch,
The voice of a mother in hopelessness,
The voice of a youth searching for direction,
While the old weeps in pain.
The world seems to have lost its humanity,
Portraying injustice, hatred and jealousy,
Nature seems to agree,
Allowing disaster to conquer harmony
Where has the heart of a leader gone?
The kind that stands for justice,
And brings hope to the downhearted.
The child is still begging,
There is no medicine.
The mother is still hopeless
Her child is dying.
The youth is still searching,
Schooling seems only for the rich.
The old is still weeping,
How much more do we have to cry?
This poem brought me to tears. Thank you Annie.
Posted by: Jelilah Kum | 12 April 2019 at 08:02 PM
Congratulations on winning the 2017 prize Annie.
I hope you have kept writing and will enter the 2019 competition. The Crocodile Prize needs as many writers and poets as possible to keep it going.
The line in your poem, "Nature seems to agree", is a very interesting concept. I wonder what you are suggesting. Perhaps Nature is finally abandoning humanity as a lost cause?
Minor comment. Maybe instead of "While the old weeps in pain" and "The old is still weeping" substitute "While the elder weeps in pain" and "The elder is still weeping". Alternatively substitute "the old one" for "the old". Makes the tense sound better.
Posted by: Philip Fitzpatrick | 23 March 2019 at 05:51 PM