For the 18th day of Paul Brookes’ April poetry challenge, a poem inspired by the painting Playing Field by Anjum Wasim Dar. Please call by Paul’s blog to read the other poems too.

Games people play

Funny to think of people playing
at a time like this
men chasing a ball
crowds cheering and hugging

as if as if as if

the world was saved
the children not dead
the cities not destroyed
the oceans not poisoned
the forests not razed.

Funny how they can cheer
at a time like this

as if as if as if

the most important thing beneath the sun
is a ball kicked into the back of a net

almost as funny as arguing
over celebrity antics
TV characters
or which side God is on
the devout murderers’
or the humane unbelievers’.