Responsibilities nothing more
Than what we want them to be.
Not imposed only taken they reflect,
Who we wish to be and grow into.
Not an effort nor a sacrifice but
An opportunity a gift from us,
To ourselves. Our ability to adapt,
Change, grasp to recognise
Who we are and where we stand,
On the timeline of our existence
How much more we can become,
The thousand things we could do
Other than sit and watch TV, blab,
Opinionate on movies, series and the news,
Effectively distracting us ruthlessly dictating
What we cannot do.
Obliging us to commiserate
At a distance relate, to images deprived
Of humanity to think, indeed
We are good people, better spectators
As we feel, immovably sorry for tragedies,
Exempting us from taking action,
Convincing us by fear, it is not our duty
Someone else’s, deliberately freeing us
From responsibilities we would,
Be willing to take if only they stopped
Reiterating the impossibility
For us to do anything but watch.
Either that or turn them off.
[Featured painting: The Spectators by Honoré Daumier, c. 1860–64]