Here is another reflection - I have been trying to write in verse lately (as you can see it is only moderately successful). This is a little late in being posted as I have been without internet.
Base 10
Because most of us are born
with 5 fingers on each of 2
hands
And some of us die with the
same
We measure things in 1s, 10s, 100s
and 1000s
For the rich and famous of the
US of A, 1 can keep us riveted to
24 hour news coverage for days
For inner city poor it takes
100s to draw even a
20 second news blurb
This morning on the radio
The woman dragged out
One T-h-o-u-s-a-n-d
Palestinians killed
Finally, it was news worthy
Finally it was a crisis
Imagine if we were born
with only 4 fingers on each
hand
Imagine if the mathematicians
hadn't counted their thumbs.
It would have taken 488 fewer
deaths to catch our attention.
Although maybe then, the standards
would be shifted again.
1 comment:
Connecting base ten to a news media and a dominant discourse that values some lives much more than others is really clever. I don't think the poem is finished, however, do you? I would love to see you rework it.
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