The Midas Touch

Man-made islands
Man-drowned lands…

Newer vaccines
Older instincts…

Lifetime achievement awards
Within-a-lifetime destruction rewards..

Genetic engineering
Nature butchering

God’s Commandments
Read upside down

Tourism in space
Terrorism on earth

Melting ice caps
Freezing hearts

Borrowed fertility
Diminished humanity

Long-armed tactics to
Shortchange ‘the Other’

Fields reaping capital
Cars guzzling maize…

Fighting obesity
Not starvation

Man-machine amity
Man-man enmity

Speed in greed
@
Greed in speed

What will we be left with?
Is this not
The Theatre of the Absurd
Forever playing
The Midas Touch*.


*The age old story in which, Midas acquired the boon that whatever he touched would turn into gold. He realized his folly when his daughter turned into gold.

These lines are an expression of my pain at the way the world is going. Unlike one Midas, the world has many-countries, powers; the rich want to become richer; the poor are left poorer. The equivalent of the Midas Touch will be when Technology and Greed will outdo themselves. Will we be around to put the clock back?