Poet’s Corner: humanism’s plan to face man’s inhumanity to man

By David Seddon

David is a retired English teacher and an active member of Stockport Humanists

FACE-OFF

Let’s note man’s inhumanity to man –

No prophet, saviour, teacher ever could

Convince us we should stop – although we can

At times pause and try briefly to be good.

Too often The Old Adam pushes through,

And deep primordial feelings weigh us down.

We swim through fantasies of what to do,

Till human voices wake us, and we drown.

Listen to those voices – human words

Born of our thinking, helping us access

Thoughts of old like murmurating birds,

Floating above us in some vast caress.

Let humanism’s brain conceive our plan

To face man’s inhumanity to man.