Helplessness but not hopelessness

I went out for coffee and a bagel this morning, as I sometimes do, to break the monotony of being at home. I go to the Coffee Express, a little hot spot in Pickletown, where large and small groups gather in the morning for meetings, chat and breakfast. There is a TV with closed captions that I usually watch because I am not a part of the Coffee Express crowd. It's enough to know the owner who is a friendly entrepreneur with a rather thriving business (she puts mustard on my bagel and sausage sandwich for me.)

I watched part of Good Morning, America with a crowd of people jumping and waving in Bryant Park in NYC. It is Fleet Week there and lots going on. There was some local news and weather, including an update on a 24-year-old Iraqi amputee who is missing in the Susquehanna River near York, PA.

I was suddenly in need of writing about my state of mind in general, and world events in particular, so this is what spilled out.

In the coffee shop
People jumping up and down on TV
There's a man missing on the river
His arms are in his boat.
A great wind just blew through Colorado
and there's sickness in Myanmar.

All around the people talking
Some choosing shade grown fair trade
There's a man missing on the river
His arms are in his boat.
Rain is pouring on the city
and there's no rice in Myanmar.

They just built another house in Louisiana
and celebrated with tears
The cameras have gone home now
and the city left behind.
There's a man missing on the river
His arms are in his boat.
There's no hope for those crushed in China
and no clean water in Myanmar.

I can drink the coffee black
and watch the people talk
There's a man missing on the river
His arms are in his boat.
I can't go to China, Colorado or Louisiana
or make them happy in Myanmar. (c) Patricia G. McKellar, May 23, 2008