Minding the Gaps – Is Everything Old New Again?

The global world, both near and far,

Embraces forms of ADR

Fiji, Hong Kong, across the ditch

Scratch DR’s existential itch

New acronyms come into play

ADC, RI, NAJ

Inventive times they lie ahead

For UNCITRAL and for arb-med

Nudge theory tells us how to game

Those inclined to stay the same.

But there are sceptics, some have doubt

They grow irate and shout full out

This neuroscience and psychobabble

Leave it to academic rabble

But when they do need help I think

They will turn to Drunk Tank Pink

Amidst the fog of change and dread

The DR world is far from dead

Auspicious signs for all DR,

Through CPD or webinar

Happening both near and far

In the annals of our discourse a chapter still is lacking

Grave global issues aggravate without our learned backing

The major conflicts round the world are far from resolution

Refugees seeking security, invasion and pollution

War and greed claim countless souls, car-bombed and droned

While they endure exuberance must surely be postponed

Francis calls to arms on plights of humanity

In this vortex can DR bring needed sanity?

Could intercession for just peace be DR’s new refrain?

Dante’s infernos doused? A too ambitious claim?

The politicians, the corporates, play adversarial confrontation

How nice twould be if they could be next up for education.

And now it’s time to cease, forsooth, these stanzas terrible

Before the audience suggests: this is far too much Boulle.

- Resolution Institute, Sydney, October 2015