Foreign “Aid”
A sky ku for something I hate thinking about
a broken man cries
and it was my taxes that
shattered his blue skies
***
Authors note.
I wrote this for the sky-ku challenge, thinking about how drastically different the skies and prospects look between people living in various parts of the world.
This morning I was also reflecting on the absurdity of many people’s tax dollars (mine included) going to military “aid” which sometimes just means: bombing strangers we have no beef with. (Or as the case may be, paying for other strangers to bomb them.)
It’s heart breaking to look at the unprecedented violence that’s going on in the world, and know that many of us are involuntarily funding it by simply paying taxes.
So this poem reflects my unknowable guilt.
Somewhere on the other side of the world, there’s some guy who’s lost something. His kids. His home. His friends. His neighborhood. His culture and his people.
I don’t know him, I don’t know what he’s lost. But to him it’s everything. His life is in ruins, thanks to US made and US funded bombs, bombs which I helped pay for.
How many people have died per dollar of us foreign aid? And how much have I contributed :(
For the record I’m not against paying taxes. I just wish we could direct them where they belong: towards helping people live better lives. Not towards murder abroad.
About the Creator
Sam Spinelli
Trying to make human art the best I can, never Ai!
Help me write better! Critical feedback is welcome :)
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Comments (2)
A very different take on the challenge. Unfortunately, wars are a valuable commodity for the "world powers" and it's sand, indeed, that we involuntarily help finance them.
Wow! This is the first time I clicked all 'reader insights'. This hits hard.