What a Piece of

What a Piece of …..

The wonderfully expansive Shakespeare
Wrote magnificent words on everything,
From loves joy, sadness to tragedy
Using words that made hearts sing.

One such speech and quote from Hamlet
Is “what a piece of work is man”,
Going on to exult, but question
As to why man kills all he can.
With the murder of animals for gain
And shredding world treasure to the bone.
But worse than this is man's wars
With people keen to cast the first stone.

Bombings, shooting and killings abound
In almost accepted daily news,
When man's bigotry, racism and hatred
Surfaces across our planet, and spews
Mass slaughter, pain and carnage,
Even now on Easter's religious day
Sri Lanka is decimated by bombs,
As evil scum murder their way.

Oh what a piece of work is man?
Although I could answer profane,
But outrage and contemptuous disgust
Now seems is uttered in vain.
For our world drops in downward spiral
Lemming like, in a desire to die.
While in some places across the globe
A few people cry in anguish, “why”?

So maybe I can pose an answer
In that mutual respect has now gone.
A respect for man, animals and our world,
When for so many centuries joy shone.
But perhaps it's not yet all lost
As some are intent to put things right,
So I will stand alongside them until
We stop man being a piece of shite!

Laurie Wilkinson
www.lauriewilkinson.com