20150911 (international development)

Normal Illinois is not as exciting 

As Akron Ohio but people are not 

Risking their entire family’s well being 

To make the move like Syrians leaving 

Syria Guatemalans leaving Guatemala

Libyans leaving Libya there are those

Idiot few who freely choose to live in

War zones even a few who think their

Retirement checks will suffice among

People living in poverty relative relatable

Poverty like Mexico or Italy now that

Countries have to deal with masses flowing

From troubled spots except for Hungary

Saudi Arabia the United Arab Emirates who

Say no but defend by saying we’ll give them 

Money just not a place to stay we’ve got our

Own we don’t need to water down our national

Purity how do you know they won’t be

Troublemakers like the ones they left

Back home a lot of them don’t want to 

Come here anyway what with our nasty

Habits of chopping people’s heads off

Wrapping women up in smothering

Bandages keeping them stupid at 

Home where they belong don’t even

Mention Israel they can’t even accept

Their own natives much less migrants

They only want to come to rich countries

USA Germany France where they hope

To get a piece of the pie can’t they 

Bake pies back in their homeland

The first topic for debate during

My high school freshman year was

The worldwide need for international

Development how wealthy countries must

Help poorer nations become functioning

Partners what kind of foreign aid how much

Would be required what everybody agreed

On was that the rich nations should stop

Ripping off the poor but it wasn’t

That easy background study showed

Ripping them off was really our only way

Of bringing them into the twentieth

Century if we didn’t pay them enough

Well that was the market not us being

Greedy if whatever they got was 

Squandered on schools roads armies

Full of the presidents’ cousins that was 

Their choice you know Exxon-Mobil

Signed agreements with Nigeria to 

Develop wells with a good share

Of the profits going to the government

But Exxon-Mobil couldn’t tell them how

To spend it luxurious palaces every

Tribal head a prince with several 

Mercedes Porsches every son at Harvard

It’s their money not the peoples’

The governments’ ignoring injustice

In other nations has reaped us a whirlwind

Of refugees what world were we leading

When we were world leaders 

Not the world of the oppressed whom

We overlooked hoping they’d never

Hear of New York Harbor with the 

Lady lifting her lamp beside 

A golden door 

c. J.S.Manista, 2015