Nations United
A secured park on an African hill
Two rows of flags at peace parade the walk
Their nations rarely know tranquility, so
Grand, grandiose minds confident
in their walled garden of virtue
Assurance, conviction, self regard,
Gather in hushed, careful
Controlled conversation within,
Masking uncontrollable events without.
Dispassion displaces diplomacy
Process prorogues progress
Narrative negates nature
Paper preempts people;
Words, words, anodyne words
Lay waste to the world
While people die
Below the soft blue sky,
Their flags fluttering in harmony.
About this: The second largest UN office complex occupies a bucolic park in suburban Nairobi. Secure from the tumult of African life, diplomats and factotums walk the long avenue of parallel flags, gathering every day in earnest conversation, meetings, and conferences, all confident that, soon, they will right the world.
Outside the gate, the taxis wait, and the rest of the world carries on, mostly oblivious to, and unaffected by, whatever happens in that park.