Hail Free Trade

Childhood smiles of joy effaced,
Drum-taut skin, despair encased,
Youthful spark of life erased,
Eyes beyond imploring.

TV commentator cries:
"Third-world excess millions die,
Military regimes deny."
Camera-frozen orphans stare.

Shop the shrink-wrapped bargain sale,
"Made in China" consumers hail
Economies of global scale;
Children pay the price.

TV pundits analyze
the shift of global enterprise;
Surplus workers cast aside.
Unemployment, "Made in China."

Cocaine mother's withered breast
suckles her infant, a hideous bequest,
innocents bartered in a material quest,
Our children desecrated.

Fear free trade where greed succeeded,
Where hungry children go unheeded.
Human values fade, defeated.
Mourn the prey of trade.

Mail to: Graybyrd

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This is my work in progress of stories, poetry (mine and also some of Wilfred Owen and Robert Service), commentary, and personal recollections.