That is Why

a poem by Julian Delia

Illustration by Anegma｜Gilmour Mangion

 

 

I always wear the same pairs of worn out shoes;

I always use the same, torn up bag.

I never buy new clothes if I can avoid it;

I clothe myself in the same, worn threads,

In love with simple hoodies and sweats.

 

A trifling matter such as clothing yourself

Can easily make you an accessory to exploitation.

Garments manufactured in a third world nation,

Widespread consumption and waste,

Entire populations caught up in this haste

A rush to stick to trends;

The means cannot be justified by the ends.

 

The same applies

For everything else we own or buy;

It takes effort, being willing to try

To avoid perpetuating economic slavery.

Convenience does not matter

When corporate cats get fatter

At the expense of the rest of the world.

That is why I don’t buy new clothes whenever I can avoid it.

 

I like to believe in people.

I believe in the power of discussion.

I believe apathy is a repercussion,

A symptom of hopelessness,

A manifestation of deep-seated fear

Of the world’s ruthlessness.

That is why I don’t believe in societal privatisation,

Why profits shouldn’t matter more than lives,

Why we should build a world that sustains and thrives

Not tear it down in the name of neo-liberalisation.

 

My heart reverberates at the thought of anarchy –

The idea of banishing the oligarchy,

Of finally eliminating the monetisation of humanity

And killing the system based on indulging in vanity.

That is why I protest,

Why this flag-waving and chest-thumping

I shall forever detest.

 

I don’t respect bureaucrats.

The cogs behind the machinery,

The assistants of the aristocrats.

Men and women,

Dedicated in loyal service;

Backstage staff to one, big circus,

Whose main attraction

Consists of this contraption,

This hamster wheel that we call our lives.

Governments derive consent

Not through sheer legitimacy or credibility

But through selective, unsustainable prosperity,

Through actively stifling dissent.

 

That is why I don’t respect bureaucrats;

I have nothing against you as people,

I do not believe that you are evil.

But it is undeniable

That working for a soulless, money-making machine is unjustifiable,

That not thinking and obeying

Signifies us losing our path, forever straying.

That is why

I would rather get shot and die

Than work for my oppressors for a living.

 

 

Julian Delia likes to challenge everything that can be said and done in the interest of finding out a better way of doing it. He writes because “life is only interesting if you know what’s really going on”.