Monday, 23 April 2012

Signatures of sustainability

Their footprints will grow
as shadows do
longer by the hour;
smiles will not grow wider
for the yawn of dream and reality
collapses fast in dream-fade
and in that short road to adulthood
smaller footprints will show
that life follows life
city skyline grows higher
landscape becomes art form
children will smile
now and then and again,
and in the swift movement of nation
from the here to there
of design and architecture,
glitter and ambience
poverty remains alas
slow of foot,
resilient.

*Pic by Rukshan Abeywansha
[Published in the 'UNDO' section of The Nation, April 22, 20112]


2 comments:

  1. if one starts work towards a future that will sustain or towards sustainability then the signs of 'poverty' will fades away. Things like 'poverty' will not remain for so long. those are just situations that one can change for a better for sure. this is 'materialistic'measurement of this very popular subject called 'poverty'

    and .....

    if you try to analyze this word or the term 'poverty' in a totally different way one really can not assure of the results sometimes because the attitudes, thinking or other well established/stagnant inner qualities of a person can not be changed so easily and then such situations will remain forever. also i know that there is an unbreakable link between ones level of financial situation and the levels of ones thinking...... if one can not change internally then the idea of 'moving out of poverty' will remain only as a dream that do not become 'realistic'

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  2. 'the poor we will always have with us'- an undeniable truth.
    what we really should have in a just society is equality of opportunity. And that will never be possible in a class and caste-ridden society. Mindsets have to change.

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