Reflections on an Optimistic Past

How does it feel

To not know

The horrors of war?

For all of the battles

Must have ended.

There must be no more.

- 1940, the Blitz

Decades have passed,

But conflict still persists,

And war still goes on.

How optimistic of you

To think we would learn;

Peace is forever gone.

- 2024, Now

Oh, future ones,

How jealous am I

Of the harvests you reap.

Food must be plentiful;

Nobody will hunger;

Everything must be cheap!

-1959, Great Chinese Famine

If only it were true,

For food is scarce;

Millions still starve.

Prices are rising;

There’s no meat

Left to carve.

- 2024, Now

You must have cured all diseases,

Eliminated all viruses;

Never will you experience a pandemic.

You will never have to quarantine

Or wear a mask;

No one will be sick.

- 1918, Spanish Flu

Sickness is found everywhere,

From malaria-spreading mosquitoes

To lab-made poison gas.

We just suffered through

A three-year-long pandemic;

People died en masse.

- 2024, Now

Russia and America

Threaten each other with nukes,

Endangering us all.

As we fear for our lives,

Let this be a moment

You never have to recall.

- 1962, Cuban Missile Crisis

It is not just

Russia and America

That can end humanity.

Now, nine countries can;

Let us pray that these powers

Will keep their sanity.

-2024, Now

We are haunted by war,

Consumed by world hunger,

Plagued by pandemics,

Petrified by the power of nukes.

Let us hope the future shines bright.

May it bring us into the light.

- A hopeful child