Cameras and Conference Birds
Translating birds chattering
in their glassboxes above
French
Italian
Portugese
German
English
Spanish
Japanese
and we below
from all over the planet
have flocked together
to present and dissect
childrens rights
global peace matters
while the birds above
first memorise then begin
their simultaneous chatter
so no-one is left out
so every word is heard
Hooked to our high-tech headphones
we tune in to the tweeting echoes
in alien or home tones
cameras flash, pan or zoom
capturing the worlds faces
contained in this room
our eyes on the speaker
their eyes on us
our eyes on each other
all eyes on screen
what are we missing
what exactly are we seeing
lense
big screen
microphone
are we together
or are we alone
In this suspended reality
of foreign five-star hotels
name and religion ID tags
our hosts traditional cuisine
this out-of-contex togetherness
where sworn national enemies
do the noble press-pic handshake
and inconspicuously
you do a double-take
we try so hard to communicate
sitting through sessions
of speeches and debate
stuffed with statistics
jargon, brochures, reports
and the usual workshop-talk
We stick to our schedule
switch to the next venue
and as the days pass
some exchange addresses
others form a latenite circle
to share jokes, anecdotes
sing well-known songs
and I blend in
wondering
what we will take home
what will we invest
when we return to our nests
having flown so far
said and seen so much
more than memories
we hope
more that hot-talk
we say
some half–smile at the pile
of good intentions
and on the closing day
we re-commit to link ups
strategies to follow through
a collective draft is printed
a declaration is signed
and in a few hours
we wave, shake,hug
turn our backs
and take flight
in opposite directions
with more luggage
than we landed with
a week-or-so ago
with much more
or way less
than some bargained for
First Forum of the Global Network of Religions for Children GNRC - May 2000, Osaka, Japan
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