The Same Bird - by Ciara Maeve Ní hEanachain

Left wing or right wing

It's all the same bird

Truth or ‘conspiracy’

Well, it depends what you heard

And from where

And from who

Because some people lie

Like the hands of a broken clock

Trying to tell time

But if I say you lie

Then I must look at me too

Because unless I am crystal clean

I may well have lied to you

In some way

At some time

For some reason or other

Lying is too often the way

We bond with another

Some people are woke

Some people evolved

But who says that's the truth

And who else is involved 

In the conversation

In the arguments

In the he said and she said

It feels like society is devolving

And it's a real pain in the head.

But the real truth is this

All the worlds a stage

Rabbit holes a plenty

In this day and age

To fall down

To crawl down

We willingly dig deep

But is it a good idea

To care for the opinion of sheep?

My rabbit hole may be red

Yours may be blue

Both are just colours

We’ve let define me and you

Irish flags

British flags

Countries filled with pride

Picking right or left

Is just encouraging more divide.

And yes we all have lines

Things we stand strong on because we can

These are absolute truths

For woman and man

Protect children

Protect women

The common sense of knowing wrong from right,

Could be some of your lines

For which you’d be willing to fight. 

And there are many others

The list goes on and on

What is ok for me

For you could be wrong

So we fight

And we yell

And we try to say our piece

In this void of media social

We ‘can’t get no release’.

But what if it was all

Just a way to keep us scared

A society divided

Will never be prepared

For what's coming

Or what's here

Because people don’t really like to see

What’s in front of their noses

Because seeing would require them to be

More. Better. 

Different. Able

It would mean pulling chairs

Up to very big tables

Growing balls

And growing boobs

And speaking truth with our full chests

Which would only bring us back around

To a place most people feel best

Back to the wings

Of that ever present bird

Only listening to people

Who we think deserve the final word

Not realising

Even for a minute

That so many of ‘them’ are players

In this current comic tragedy

Called Life, with all its layers.

So what is the solution

Do we bury heads in the sand

Or open our eyes fully

Every answer we demand

Do nothing

Do something 

What’s it going to be

And does it really matter

In the grand scheme of things you see? 

Are we just meant to fly

And soar high above the stories

Reach for a higher power

Perhaps God in all his glory

Do we pray

Do we seek

A way to do this life better

Whatever the truth is

Our choice is now or never.