Subjugation

Anthony Salandy

 

A battle ensues
On all corners of a vast world
Where men lay heavy handed
In their tyrannical suppression

Of all voices that seek
To rise above the restraints
That grow ever tighter
Around the necks and wrists

Of a separate world fighting
To forever break free
From the mental subjugation
So effortlessly imposed-

On an existence so simply unique
That one may long to question
Why wealth becomes an alibi
For the innate despotism-

Of men who find peculiar pleasure
In the enslavement of all those
Who dwell beyond the western world,
Or rather all those who should exist-

Beyond the manmade borders
Of a one sided truth
Where ruthless exploitation
Is guised as modern progress-

And spiritual growth is sacrificed for profit. 

 

On ‘Subjugation’

‘Subjugation’ discusses the breakdown of social norms and values in post-modern 21st century society. This poem takes on a global outlook by presenting economic growth as tantamount to the dissolution of the human spirit and society in this era. Driven by oppression in all its forms (gender, race, ethnicity, sexuality, etc.) this poem seeks to question why some are silent and complacent towards atrocities that provoke anger but indeed, not enough change. Whilst globalisation may have created a ‘global village’, it has not led to an end in inequality nor subjugation on a macro or indeed micro, global scale.

The art accompanying this poem is courtesy of © Karen Lynch (@leafandpetaldesign).

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