A World of Hurt

I held an atlas in my lap

Ran my fingers across the whole world

And whispered, where does it hurt

It answered

Everywhere

Everywhere

Everywhere

A World of Hurt

I’ve always loved globes, mine arrived today by mail

It holds a sense of wonder, an imaginative tale

Beautiful and simple, that no one dared assail

But mine, it held a secret, silence in a sphere

All the pain and all the hurt, inside so austere

Somehow it had feelings, absorbed from far and near

Entrenched inside its story, one of loss and pain

Some caused by religions, where facts often abstain

Others speak of avarice, no man would acclaim

This sphere absorbed man’s history, pain and terror

Passed to one who dared to hear, even though in error

It illustrated man’s contempt, as though a mirror

I whispered to the golden orb, why, now, why me? 

It answered with a painful sigh, ‘hear this, my plea

This world is failing, there is nowhere to flee”

Panic welled inside my heart, what can one man do?

A voice came from within me, you know what is true

Go and spread the word to all, before time is through

What can I do, to heal you, is there any way?

It barely uttered, “love life, each and every day”

Silence hung inside the room, how could I hold sway?

Everywhere is where earth hurts, animals in pain

Water, air and soil defiled, poison in the rain

Man has but one life to give, care is the refrain

A thousand years has passed, a child has found a toy

It shows a map never seen, even as a boy

The orb is gold, earth is green, why does this annoy?

He asks the sphere, are you a toy, holding it tight

It answered, softly, “no my son, do not take flight”

The boy dropped the orb in fear, unsure of his fright

“You are here as witness to what love can create”

The boy, confused, asked the orb, but then what of hate?

“Hate has been erased my son, and that is your fate”

The lad picked up the orb that day, its wisdom clear

He polished it and showed his friends, nothing to fear

Throughout his life he asked advice and kept it near

Time passed and at his death, he gave the orb away

It languished in a basement, no one there to play

Till finally a child found it, and dared to stay

The orb felt it was wanted, man had come to care

It needed not to speak, the air, clean, man, aware

The child grew bored, smiled at the orb, and climbed the stairs.