The Group of Eight

international | summit mobilisations | opinion/analysis Monday July 07, 2008 12:06 by Mark C - Poetry.ie mark at poetry dot ie

Poem about the member countries of the G8

This is a poem made up of acrostics that I wrote after the G8 meetings last year documenting my thoughts on the indvidual countries that make up 'The Group of Eight". Feel free to add your own creative writing/work (and/or comments).

The Group of Eight

Part The First
In which America is accused of not living up to its responsibilities.

Are you in a position to be
Moralising to the rest of us
Even though your own track
Record is not so good
In matters of
Care and charity?
And doesn’t it show you just don’t care?

Part The Second
Wherein, using Britain as an example, the poet shows Empire never ended.

Being a past empire
Really helps when you are
Invading another’s
Territory
And
Imposing your own ideology to create a
New ally.

Part The Third
Wherein the poet considers the plight of Kevin Yourdkhani.

Can a dad help his child?
And can the child be allowed back home?
No.
And no.
Dad cannot help his child
Anymore.

Part The Fourth
Being a stanza regarding the continued rise of the right in Europe.

Fraternity? No.
Real politic is the order of the day.
And real politic is ruling.
Nicola Sarkozy is seeing to that.
C’est la vie,
Est il?

Part The Fifth
In which the reader is asked to become reflective.

Get ready
Everyone.
Re-
Member
A rotten,
Nasty past,
Year by year.

Part The Sixth
Being a stanza treating of the poet’s perception of the world’s leaders.

In the future people might fare better, if
The world leaders are not
All raging capitalists
Like
Your Berlusconi.

Part The Seventh
Wherin Putin is shown to be learning from the west.

Rule, realise, and then reveal that the
United States exports
So that –
So that –
I, too, become
America

Part The Eighth
In which the poet propounds the view that the world will destroy itself.

Just wait and you’ll see
A missile attack from
Pyongyang.
A nuclear war on the horizon. A
New, clear horizon.