The Happiness Report

The Happiness Report
from the pagan haven
of a guarded and gated
sunny seaside resort
Machine tooled
from a block of concrete
Then deposited
upon a mangrove swamp
along a once pristine coast
Now a checkpoint
and a guard tower
cast shadows
across the lungs of nature
dying of tourist cancer

The Armada Piranha
is now docking
The beggars are begging
native children
smiling and waving
at the old slave port
Guns in the sun glistening
An armed escort
with muscles bulging
for the affluent
swimming in effluent
With their sparkling hoard
and an all devouring brood
safely on board
the shuttle bus El Gringo

As the cult of stolen cargo
reads a eulogy for white ivory
the buffet feeders of greed
dine upon a black market fiasco
Nothing cocaines
the profit margins
like a prohibitive embargo
Slave traders and white bankers
dancing a global tango
The White Rhino
… been and gone
In the bliss of ignorance
like a carnival sideshow
evil hides and thrives
at the Festival of Happiness
with the Mother of All Sorrow

The suntan lotion toxic
liberally applied
with radioactive plastic
Carbonated drinks served
upon a sea of carbolic acid
Dead coral broken
by crafts of pleasure
Fossil fuel spilling
upon living water
Mother Nature
felled and dredged
now but a shadow
being slowly put down
for a culture shallow

Like sheep
bred fed and led
on a package tour
to a biodiverse slaughter
The primate of destruction
a disfunctional weapon
of plastic mass production
Kiss goodbye
Yellow Fin Tuna
The Blue Fin
and the majestic Marlin
soon to follow
Perish the thought
with no thought for tomorrow

In pursuit
of pleasures primal
a plastic curse
upon your water sports
flowing from an open bar
at Hotel El Burro
Pobreza espiritual
Los niños la pobreza

A State of Police
and broken rites
Lese Majesté
“The Festival of
Returning Happiness”
declaring an end
to all civil unrest
now that the military
have done their best
to silence and suppress
To celebrate
closely watched
concerts in the park
and the flying of big kites
When wealth and priviledge
whispers here
the military junta shouts
It’s global corporate sponsor
and big time donor dictates
with warnings
to those listening
No leaders of protest
left amongst the living

“Au revoir, que será será,
and have a nice life
with what’s been left.”
For the weaponised
and industrialized one percent
have sucked the very marrow
out of Mother Earth . . .
as if there was no tomorrow

Children dispossessed
by the sons of private beaches
in a land bled dry
for the wild colonial boys
on a summer holiday high
As sea turtles returning
from oceans blue
to golden shores
for a gourmet breakfast
after much drunken
and anonymous spawning

“Safe now for honoured guests
of the high maintenance west
to resume vacationing.
Our sole purpose is to please!
Come walk upon Hibiscus petals
like comic book deities
with super powers.
We know our place,
for you taught it to us.
Come harvest our Lotus flowers.”

Gasoline
in whiskey bottles
Two wheel scooting
Street dealers chasing
“Viagra, Señor … or
perhaps something harder?”
Like a dose
of refugee living
A golden temple
of demolition rubble
A paper dragon flying
over an open sewer
A dying culture
The ruins of paradise
No choice offered … or given
when force feeding
that all consuming western vice

Always
there’s trouble
down near the border
Brooding forces
forcing a spark
Nurses shot dead
on the way to work
And dare not educate
your shrouded daughter
flowering in the dark
of a patriarchal powder keg
Religion spiked with venom
Malala …times a million
Innocence held captive
Kept helpless
in the darkness
where a woman
is just a possession
Submission … division
There is no honour
in killing

Lost children
of gods fallen
out of time
and out of place
All the truths
of this world
add up to one big lie
A stratosphere of bullshit
between you
and a clear blue sky
Tourista Fashionista
doing just fine
The question
you need to ask yourself
… Is your tourist dollar
funding a state of crime?
Pobreza espiritual
Los niños la Pobreza

A Report of Happiness,
from a free range anthropologist
upon a Quest Majesté;

‘God will restore the whole earth
and give it to his messy carbon
based children as an inheritance.’

~ by David B. Redpath © 2018

First published
on Morality Park

Photography;
David B. Redpath © 2018-19

144 thoughts on “The Happiness Report”

      2. The Nouveau Stone Age!
        Now there’s a thought, Bojana.
        At least in the Neolithic there was
        no iron or plastic. No barbed wire,
        concrete borders, suicide bombers,
        or religious fanatics. No wholesale
        industrialised destruction of the
        environment.
        Or we could use the technology,
        and humanity, we already possess
        to fix this mess up.

        Liked by 6 people

      9. Exactly. You hit exactly the right note. Your poetry always does. I feel the outrage with you. But also frustration. What can we do? Such a huge task to try and change anything. We can’t. Except by using our pens. And making our voice be heard where we can. Keep writing like this David. I know you do, and will.

        Liked by 4 people

    2. Brilliance from the highest peek of your heart and mind! Your writing is of value, empathy, experience, humble, delicate observation, care, LOVE, voice,universe, vision, and soul!
      The Real Deal! A true blue writer! God bless!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. To you, from a poet laureate true blue;

        “May God’s bless
        and keep you always
        May your wishes all come true
        May you always do for others
        And let others do for you
        May you build a ladder to the stars
        And climb on every rung
        May you stay
        May you stay forever young.”
        ~ Bob Dylan

        Like

      2. Gracious words! Simply Superb! 😃 Forever young…You bet!! Hard work, and loving people immensely is the secret to my happiness no matter what life throws my way! 🙂🌷❤️&☀️

        Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes, I can understand that. It’s funny how many people who go to these places don’t see what it is they are seeing. They just go around looking happy and buying things or drinking.

        Liked by 4 people

    1. Thank you, Drew.
      I think poverty often takes
      away freedom of choice.
      The irony is that much of the
      “developing world” didn’t
      know they were quite so poor, till colonial “tourists” from
      the west showed them
      . . . what’s best.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

    1. I calls it like I sees it, Punam.
      I look at rivers dammed up
      with plastic water bottles
      heading out to the sea, and
      think, so this is progress.
      Progress be damned.
      Please save the whales,
      the birds, and the bees, please.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

      1. Couldn’t agree more, David. We, in the developing nations are hurtling towards this so called progress at breakneck speed. If only there was a magic pill to save the whales, the birds and the bees! Sigh

        Liked by 4 people

      2. Interesting that we have the
        tools already to fix much of
        mankind’s mess (except for the
        reduction of biodiversity),
        but …
        “The blizzard of the world
        has crossed the threshold
        and it has overturned
        the order of the soul.”
        ~ Leonard Cohen

        Liked by 3 people

  9. Tourista Fashionista. Ain’t that the truth.
    You know, in general terms, I am not a poetry person (I think expressed that in an earlier comment). Most of it, I don’t get. But, you…you charm me, David, so very much.
    Where were the pix taken?

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. “Minimal harm, maximum charm” …
      Thanks Victoria, that could
      be a new poetic handle.
      Two of the pics are from
      Phuket, Thailand.
      The rest are from outside a
      Mayan Church in Yucatan.
      In a park, just across the road
      from the church, local were
      having a fiesta, dancing with
      bottles of birra balanced on
      their heads … Very handy!

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      2. Much of the ‘Ring of Fire’
        coast was hit by the 2004
        Tsunami.
        Being a free range
        anthropologist,
        I travel for work, Victoria.
        It’s a hard gig, but someone
        has to do it.
        Think of me when your in
        front of the fire
        . . . cuddling Oliver 🔥

        Liked by 1 person

    1. More into holistic anthropology.
      That’s where you study the hole
      mankind has gotten himself into.
      It includes the exploration of any
      possible means of extraction.
      So far I’ve only discovered one☝️

      Keep cosy with Ollie, Victoria.

      Liked by 3 people

      Reply

  11. A thorough X-ray of a sad reality
    delivered by a poem of a lovely flow
    accompanied by expressive photos.
    Love the wordplay affuent- effluent:
    “An armed escort
    with muscles bulging
    for the affluent
    swimming in effluent”
    Also, love the reference to Malala
    and to the oppression of women.
    This is all a very powerful image:
    “Nurses shot dead
    on the way to work
    And dare not educate
    your shrouded daughter
    flowering in the dark
    of a patriarchal powder keg
    Religion spiked with venom
    Malala …times a million”

    Liked by 5 people

    Reply

    1. Your thoughts are molt apreciat,
      Marta.
      As I ramble around, with an
      ear to the poisoned ground,
      in the dark of a total eclipse
      of the heart, it is clear mankind
      needs a complete turnaround.
      For;
      “We’re living in a powder.
      keg and giving off sparks.”

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

    1. Like a dream vision demanding
      to be birthed upon parchment,
      or canvas. Without rest till
      the zeitgeist is fully expressed.
      A vessel of clay, broken & spent.
      Yet, renewed with the hue
      of the next panoramic view,
      from the ethereal sent.

      Thanks Katy … simpático.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  15. Very powerful poem, David.
    Summing up nicely the destruction of Earth’s ocean and earth’s wildlife so that the affluent in their paradise of pleasure can make oceans out of their cocktails as they live the wild life.
    And then the practices of 7th Century Bedouins in the 21st Century
    to kill and subjugate on the way to 70 dark eyed houri.

    Liked by 4 people

    Reply
  20. Pingback: The Happiness Report – Vin de Vie Wine of Life

  21. Oh, dear God, David! You’re killing me loudly with your endless talent. Lungs of cities dying of tourist cancer, it’s like you harvested eyes and captured so many truths and then strung them into an incredible consciousness. Wow, truly, wow!!

    Liked by 3 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you for bearing the high wattage
      amplification of this one 🔊
      It was the distillation of much observation.
      Appreciation transcending I be sending
      in your specific direction 🙏
      Much like yourself, I’ve had the privilege of
      travelling a world too precious to lose.
      There is hope, but it’s for mankind choose.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

    1. Thank you very much, Rosaliene.
      Being an impartial free-range anthropologist,
      I just document my observations.
      But yes, a spoonful of sugar does help the
      message go down 😎
      We already have the technology to solve
      most of this planet’s man-made problems.
      The only thing lacking is the collective
      resolve to implement them, despite the
      expense. There is a brilliant doco, ‘2040’
      by Damon Ganeau, that gives hope for
      the future … if we act now.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  26. Thank you David. Powerful words, harsh reality… pobreza espiritual… el mal de estos tiempos. Can you let us know where the photos where taken please? Thank you. Kenza.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. You’re very welcome, Kenza.
      There is always hope, for the answer
      is blowin’ in the Espiritu Wind.
      The fist two & last pic were taken in Jaipur.
      The rest were taken at a Mayan Church in
      Yucatan.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Thank you. I recognized India and also from your previous posts, and I thought it was Mexico. I am Mexican and live in Mexico! Mil gracias. Kenza.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. My lovely daughter-in-law is Mexican,
        married to my No. 2 Son.
        Their Mayan Wedding was held on the
        beach at Cancun. Had a wonderful time.
        Trump had just been elected, so it became
        a necessity to declare that I’m an Aussie 😎

        Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks Charlie … for the affirmation
      that my aim is true 🙏 💘
      I have tried, in my way, to not drown in hopeless hypocrisy. As even small actions can eventually move a mountain.

      Like

      Reply

  28. I have a morning ritual of feeding cheap bread and/or bird seed to my property’s tree dwellers. Once I had a neighbor passing by who wondered if it bothered me having to clean up the bird crap on my driveway from the perchers on the cable lines. I told him that I at least feel better knowing there’s still birds around here. Coming out of a restaurant I gave my doggie bag of leftovers to some homeless guy– only to find out soon afterwards (via tv news) that it was against the law to do so and I could’ve been fined for it. Didn’t make sense to me. Anyway, great blog posting.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Bird crap is great for the planet, Loujen 😎
      I had a similar thing happen in Phuket.
      I stopped to give some coins to a young
      beggar, all of 4 years old, only to be told
      by a local that it was illegal to do so. I’m
      not too sure who’d they lock up? Me . . .
      the four year old beggar, or both?

      Like

      Reply

  29. A tour du monde la misère in this poem. I would say it captures many complex problems in the same work in an unmatched poetic fever. This inspiration from modernist streams to peak in this creation is just awesome. As well guides readers towards several world problems.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you Foolchund, for taking the tour,
      It would seem we are all players on the
      stage of Les Misérables, awaiting the overture.
      There is much that can be done, and much
      more to happen, before the final curtain.
      Here’s hoping to seeing you at the encore.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

      1. Yeah. Really I can not bear the cruelty as terrorist are doing some day before in Colombo,Israel and in any cities and on border of any country. In your post Malala is one brave girl but other girls are suffering in bad condition in many countries. All humans should take that responsibility to remove their darkness in lives.

        Liked by 1 person

  34. Reblogged this on Mitch Teemley and commented:
    My Featured Blogger this week is David Redpath of Highway Bloggery. I can’t find an “About” page anywhere (I suspect he prefers to remain a bit mysterious). But what I can gather about him is this: He’s an Australian (I think) stream-of-consciousness poet, photographer, traveler, and seeker of truth. There’s a compelling spirit of longing and compassion beneath David’s acerbic words. “When will the world be set right?” is the question that always seems to loom beneath the surface, and sometimes emerges into full light:
    ‘God will restore the whole earth
    and give it to his messy carbon
    based children as an inheritance.’
    he concludes in a more hopeful moment.
    Amen, David, amen!

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Muchas gracias, Mitch 😎
      Life is a miraculous mystery. The adventure
      is to keep on seeking the answer. It is by
      grace that I’ve had the time and space to
      to explore this existence … to choose life.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  37. Bless you for your righteous anger, so powerfully spoken in words and pictures. ‘Confortare Numquam’, my life motto, ‘Take courage and NEVER give up’, for surely, the hope of a new dawn dwells in our souls and from these depths – our cry is heard.
    Well done soldier.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  38. I find that of the pieces I write, the ones I feel strongest about, often come from anger and/or frustration. Perhaps because they lie so close to the heart?
    I loved the photos. They remind me of the time I spent in Vietnam.

    Liked by 2 people

    Reply

    1. Thank you, Léa.
      Yes, anger can be a beneficial motivator for change. But as a complicate human being, with hands covered in blood and plastic,
      never should the rage be self-righteous.
      I was planning to visit Vietnam this year,
      but ended up in Nepal and India … ? Soon.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  42. What a marvelous, spectacular human being you are David! Ten years ago I went on a giving spree, I met the most Amazing people on this Earth…those in despair!! What a world this could be if only each of us could focus on our own journeys to truly understand others! I do hope that makes sense to you?Too many people waste too much time on wanting recognition for being when it is there, everywhere, when one looks beyond self. Enjoy your living!! Thank you for all of your kind words, always. Yes, it is love that makes the world go round…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Yes, in the long run, best to sow into the
      spiritual, than invest all your worth into
      the temporary world the material.

      “Silver and gold won’t
      buy back the beat
      of a heart grown cold.”

      “For the loser now
      will be later to win.”

      I have noticed that the truly spiritual
      operates, and motivates, with principles
      in contradiction to this world’s system.

      “The slow one now
      Will later be fast
      As the present now
      Will later be past
      The order is rapidly fadin’.
      And the first one now
      Will later be last
      For the times they are a-changin.”
      ~ Bob Dylan

      Like

      Reply

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