pretentious altruism
social consciousness
embraced with self-interest
camouflaged as compassion
will undermine a cause
to the detriment of others
This poem is my response to Poetry Form: The Wayra, the prompt from Grace at dVerse ~ Poets Pub. The wayra is a popular verse form in Peru and Bolivia, originating in an indigenous Quechua language and adopted into Spanish literature.
An additional challenge is to use onomatopoeia in the poem. I’ve addressed that by placing a revision in the comments.
The elements of the wayra are:
~ a pentastich/a stanza in 5 lines
~ syllabic, 5-7-7-6-8
~ no rhyme
Image source: Wikimedia Commons
rivrvlogr 
I liked the poem, but the form seemed a bit hazy. 5 lines became 7, and syllables broke their traces and ran amok. I admire your spirited version regardless.
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Thanks, Glenn.
I have some ides, so I may try this again.
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A plain ol’ TRUISM … well stated
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Thank you. 😀
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Detrimental of others for sure.
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Thank you, Grace.
And thank you for the prompt.
btw… I added a revision in the comments that uses onomatopoeia.
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Here’s a revision that addresses the additional challenge of using onomatopoeia in the poem:
social consciousness
embraced with self-interest
camouflaged as compassion
is a slap to the face
felt by those faithful to a cause
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All talk and no action…there’s a lot of it floating around. (K)
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Sure is!
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Mmm…like the philosophy, much in Czech style..
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Hmm. Interesting.
Thank you.
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😄
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So true, Ken. I like your revision with the slap, perhaps more than the original.
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Thank you, Merril.
I’m often a day late with these prompts, because I need to get it right. Even then I see possible revisions.
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I do the same thing, Ken.
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so true — nicely rendered (both versions)
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🙂 Thanks, Ron.
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The perfect wayra messaging …. well done, Ken!
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Thank you!
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Your title says it all – well spoken!
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Thank you.
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Ken,
I just wanted to stand and cheer! The “self-interest” at the heart of “wokeness” will bring us all down.
pax,
dora
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Thank you!
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False compassion and hypocrisy is just getting worse… maybe we should blame social media
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It certainly fosters it.
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I agree, there are many instances when self-interest is camouflaged as compassion and it brings me to question .. is the world heading into a darker phase..
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Thank you, Sanaa.
You could be right. These days, people seem to be more emboldened in the expression of their self-interest.
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