Author Information
They Don't Care
Folder:
2003
They don't care,
Don’t care about their race, their world, their country,
They don't care about the lives of the innocents,
Don’t care about the future generations,
Forced to learn of the cruelty of a once proud race.
When animals are slaughtered,
Lying dead, nothing taken, nothing used,
Except their skin, wasted, just for people to wear.
They don't care, aren't disgusted,
Aren't driven to stop the atrocity.
When children are starving, born without a chance,
Dying in agony in the streets,
Their parents abandoning them so that they can survive,
The hardest choice anyone can make.
They know, they see, they try to act,
In a half-hearted sort of way,
And the deaths go on unabated.
They don't care, don't mourn their pain, their suffering,
Don't mourn the loss of innocence in the their eyes.
When women are murdered, for the sake of honor,
When it wasn't their fault, and nothing could be done to stop it,
When women are killed for having been raped, accused of leading their attacker on,
They don't care, aren't ashamed of their race, and the thought never crosses their mind that it could have been them.
When the homeless die, huddled under newspaper and cardboard,
Their last act begging for the compassion of a complete stranger,
They don't care, don't give freely,
Hoarding the money that could save a life,
Hoarding the money that they’ll only waste.
When children struck by poverty die,
Are sold into child labour,
Are made to become sex workers,
Raped again and again,
Not even understanding what they're going through,
Ages old at six, eight, ten,
Seeing and experiencing everyday, horrible things, that most people never witness or experience,
And are thankful for that,
They watch, they feel a pang,
They say that they wish they could do something,
Knowing full well they can, knowing that a dollar or two could change someone's world,
They instead do nothing,
Say nothing,
Pretend that they can't, that there’s nothing to do,
Act like they can't spare the money,
And then go out and buy a new pair of shoes,
They don't care,
They’re only glad that it isn’t their baby, their precious.
When children go to school, trudge off,
Walking distances everyday, that they can’t even imagine,
Just to get there late, and be told off,
Not saying anything, not complaining, not explaining,
Not giving a reason for their tardiness.
The children come to school, trying to hide cuts and bruises,
The visible results of being battered.
They see, and hear, and know that there’s something wrong,
The teachers guess what it is, but don't say anything,
It's none of their business, that's what they think,
It's none of their business that the child is being hurt,
Almost killed, traumatised, becoming mistrusting,
Maybe sexually abused, but they can't say anything,
It's not their place.
They don't care, aren't worried about the pain inflicted on the helpless children,
Day after day, after day.
They don't realise that it could be stopped, if the teachers cared, if the teachers wanted to help, if they could be bothered,
And this doesn't worry them.
They don't care about anything,
They don't care about pollution, they keep using the aerosols, the petrol, the shampoo, the chemicals.
They don't care about the hole in the sky,
keep using their cars, keep using the things that might one day be the cause of the deaths of all.
And yet, when Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman divorced,
The world was shocked, sent millions of letters to the un-happy couple,
The world shed a tear,
It was discussed over dinner for weeks, months,
And all the time the same things were happening,
They don't care.
