The third world

Civilization dawned on them

Culture flourished there

Science enhanced them

Politics thrived and did well there

They grew in might with their weapons

Spread their wings around the world

We in the third world had to live under a veil of destitute states

Now things are judged by what they deem correct

Our values are shadowed and are reckoned always imperfect

We have a light of our own, but we are dazzled by theirs

We have a civilization rich and urbane but eclipsed in history

Our ideals are clothed, our gods are redefined

Our faiths are questioned and our cultures are reshaped

A series of raids on our values turned us inverted

They do not like to see the way we are but only converted

We are hard-pressed to import all theirs

For they want to thrive on grabbing ours

Seeing us laden with the offshoots of their model

They want us to grow not because we flourish

Our growth is a market that widens for their products

We in the third world are mimickers

We in the third world are endless sufferers

We in the third world have been wronged