On The Millennium

What will happen, Millennium Dawn,
to those who rose in the Twentieth Centuary
and just now are starting to set?
What will happen to ecology plans
launched on fire-and-forget?

What will happen, Celebrating Band,
to the poor and hungry, those not at hand,
in war-torn, populated, unproductive land,
to those who hurt and neither know nor understand?

What will happen, Millennium Dawn,
to a hundred New Year's resolutions passed,
quickly forgotten with eyes downcast;
remembering resolve with inebriated brain,
passionate to promise then, sober, lost again?

What will happen, Millennium Youth,
when you stand, star gazing, at the moment of truth,
technology changing at amazing pace
failing to benefit the human race
while love and ethics stumble, then sink without a trace,
leaving corporate success to take their place?

What will fill up all those pregnant pauses
from those who died of UNnatural causes?
Who really understands all the misinformation
served and suggested to our little island nation?

Just what will happen, Millennium Dawn,
when Big Ben rings in Two Thousand's morn?
Does that bell toll to celebrate or warn?

- by Prajna Pranab, 1999