Michael Jackson But the heart said no (poem)

They saw the poor living in cardboard shacks,

so they knocked the shacks down and built projects.

Huge blocks of cement and glass towered over asphalt

parking lots. Somehow it wasn't much like home, even

home in a shack. "What do you expect?" they asked

impatiently. "You're too poor to live like us. Until you

can do better for yourselves, you should be grateful,

shouldn't you?" The head said yes, but the heart said no.

 

They needed more electricity in the city, so they found

a mountain stream to dam. As the waters rose, dead

rabbits and deer floated by; baby birds too young to

fly drowned in the nest while mother birds cried

helplessly. "It's not a pretty sight," they said,

"but now a million people can run their air

conditioners all summer. That's more important

than one mountain stream, isn't it?"

The head said yes, but the heart said no.

 

They saw oppression and terrorism in a far-off land,

so they made war against it. Bombs reduced the

country to rubble. Its population cowered in fear,

and every day more villagers were buried in rough

wooden coffins. "You have to be prepared to make

sacrifices," they said. "If some innocent bystanders

get hurt, isn't that just the price one must pay for

peace?" The head said yes, but the heart said no.

 

The years rolled by and they got old. Sitting in their

comfortable houses, they took stock. "We've had a

good life," they said, "and we did the right thing."

Their children looked down and asked why poverty,

pollution, and war were still unsolved. "You'll find

out soon enough," they replied. "Human beings are

weak and selfish. Despite our best efforts, these

problems will never really end." The head said yes,

but the children looked into their hearts

and whispered, "No!"