Important Historical Events

A newspaper headline

in the largest font available

was my first lesson

on how to recognise an historical event.

Then the black and white flicker,

of a man on the moon,

a fallen president,

a speech of a dream.

Embedded we crawled

the word-shingled beach,

watched fireworks displayed

for bloodied civilians dismayed.

Tyrants everywhere were shown

the soles of our shoes

the wrath of our righteousness

the judgment of our News.

A wall is chipped, a princess killed,

a president signs with twenty gifting pens,

and two towers are folded down

into the ground

a child is born and a woman says no

. . . and expects it so.

As for important historical events . . .

a farmer in Colombia receives a text

on the price of coffee

and has time to tell stories,

that allow his kids to dream.

and  mother breast feeds her son

while a bee dips into a flower

so the last seed can be born.

©Niall OConnor    2013