http://articles.latimes.com/1985-01-25/news/mn-9279_1_methyl-isocyanate

http://www.icis.com/Articles/2011/01/12/9425414/bayer-to-shut-controversial-us-methyl-isocyanate-unit-in-2012.html




Pesticides in the Ether - A rewrite

The train comes by every morning bout 5
I wish that train would find a cliff and collide
And that the demons inside never arrive

Humanity dies where these monsters thrive
Always, some poison they unpack
Wherever they came from, I wish they’d go back
That whistle blower must be the most vile of all
He probably blew whistles during the disaster in Bhopal
Sounding off as thousands of people died
Now I hear the melodies of their killer pesticides
Echoing deep thru the hills, into the chemical valley
Here it continues adding death to it's tally
So rich men can be richer, they threaten a poor mans fate
Acting like life is worth less than methyl isocyanate





Poetry by Leila
Read 806 times
Written on 2013-06-19 at 04:48

Tags Mic  Bhopal 

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Bhopal was a nightmarish convergence of greed and arrogance, and a thousand small mistakes, culminating in a disaster. You've caught the nightmare aspect of it, how we unfailingly proceed to do ourselves in. Yet, at each step along the way decisions were made, often with the best intentions, given the best information at hand. No one would have chosen such an outcome, not even the greediest of us. There is such a thing as a collective conscience, which is why you feel sad and angry about something you cannot control. The corporate conscience, and there is one, is not lesser than our own (as individuals in society), but the consequences are often so much more severe.

I like that you made the whistle blower the center of the poem, it gives it, the poem, humanity, reminds us that bad things happen to people, not in the abstract.
2013-06-23


Ghost of Heino
You have written a great poem. May its voice be heard. Such an important piece, and so well put.
2013-06-21


josephus The PoetBay support member heart!
Well and passionately written.

Joe
2013-06-20



Rhyme does no justice to such a grave poem, but bravo nonetheless.
2013-06-19