What If II

What if we were all safe, secure
and committed to the whole?

Would humanity stagnate
into a boring pool
of mundane meaninglessness?

Or would we rise up
into the greatness
of our full potential?

Is the greatness of humanity
found in an enduring struggle?

Or can we learn to thrive
and grow
and explore
and expand
without subjecting parts of our family
to suffering?

There will always be pain with growth.

There is always risk to advance.

But doesn’t nature present us with enough challenges?
must we wield the knives of our own torture?

What If

What if,
we were all in the working class.

Everyone was secure in their basic needs
and required to work 10 hours a week
for the common good.   

Picking up trash, ploughing the roads,
cutting grass,
caring for our lawns,
our streets
and our Earth?

Aiding our elders, healing the sick,
treating the wounded,
caring for our ill,
our poor,
and each other.

Doing construction, repairing bridges
delivering goods,
generating wattage,
and warmth
and water

Doing the chores of a healthy society.

What if we all did the chores of a healthy society?

What if we all lived as if we are all on the same team?

Not Inevitable

This was not inevitable. 

Capitalism is not our destiny. 

It isn’t the pinnacle of some preordained plan.

It isn’t even the peak of our potential. 

We could have done so much better. 

Less starvation, less sickness, less war.

Starvation, sickness and war. 

And contemporary slavery 

And institutional education

And overclocked employees

And underworked masses 

And overburdened healthcare

And increases in suicide rates

And planned obsolescence 

And growing addiction problems

And general despair.

And much more

And much worse

These are some of the costs

  of Capitalism.

We did this. Humans. 

Not God, not the devil, 

  not nature and not fate. 

We imagined the invisible hand.

We turned it into a benevolent ruler.

While it was a malevolent myth. 

We embraced greed as a virtue.

We sainted the lying oppressive thieves.

Because we had food and roof.

We embraced their flagrant lies.

In exchange for TV dinners and talk shows.

While they our homes became apartments. 

We dabbled in the department store daisies.

And stopped at a Drive Thru on the way by.

While our apartments became rooms.

Now for many, the rooms are tents. 

Or bridges.

Or forests.

Or fields.

Not rooms, not apartments, not houses.

Not home. 

But this, this wasn’t inevitable. 

We did this. Humans. 

Not God, not the devil, 

  not nature and not fate. 

We are responsible. 

For all of this.

This starvation and sickness and war.

We are responsible. 

Responsible for fixing it. 

So imagine.

No war, no starvation, no sickness. 

No racism, sexism, ageism or ableism.

What does it look like?

Does it look anything like this?

Dream with me.

Dream of spending your strength, 

your skill, 

your time, 

your courage,

not for money, but for all of humanity.

   

And in return

  you get a share 

of the strength,

skill,

time,

and courage,

of all humanity.

Don’t sell your strength for minimum wage. 

Don’t sell your soul for any wage.

Don’t sell your brilliance to the oppressor.

Share it with all of your sisters and brothers. 

All the children of your grandest grandparents. 

We did this. Humans. 

Not God, not the devil, 

  not nature and not fate.

We are responsible.

And we can do better

  a lot better.

Draw Me

Draw me

Draw me with wings

  or a cape

    and my hat!  

Draw me handsome

  or gruesome

    or weird 

Draw me

Am I a Jack

 or an ace

   or a three 

Am I a heart

  or a club

    which is me?

Draw me

Am I a horse

  or some water

    or a cart

Cuz I sure

  don't feel

    like I'm art

Draw me

  and quarter

     for my sins

Or draw me back 

  to the beginning

    again

Counting Again

I am counting again;

 seven, eight 

The minutes flow

 the seconds grate

I am counting again;

 eleven, twelve

Into the dreams

 I wish I could delve

I am counting again;

 sixteen, seventeen

I am counting the days

 til were out of the quarantine 

I am counting again;

 twenty-two, twenty-three

I am counting the things

 I can only now see

I am counting again;

thirty-one, thirty-two

I am counting the things

 I wish tomorrow to do

I am counting again;

 forty, forty-one

I am counting the things

 that I never got done

I am counting again;

 fifty-four, fifty-five

I am counting the reasons

 to stay alive

I am counting again;

 sixty-five, sixty-six

I am counting the sins

 I never can fix

I am counting again;

 seventy-six, seventy-seven

I am counting the ways

 to fall out of Heaven

I am counting again;

 eighty-eight, eighty-nine

I am counting the ways

 I’ve wasted my time

I am counting again,

 ninety-nine, one hundred

  …ninety -nine, two hundred

 …ninety -nine, two hundred

I am counting again;

 but the worries still creep

I’ll take a walk and some water

 and eventually sleep

A Dream

       llaf   the brdge   nothi

     i                          n 

      n     of    i    into        g

       g  off           nothingness 

Not Machines

The universe isn’t a wristwatch 

  some vast timekeeping

    contraption

Reducing complexity to mechanics

  is a dangerous

    simplification  

Our eyes aren’t cameras

  for they both see

    and they reveal  

Hands aren’t grappling hooks

  their touch can hurt

    and heal

A mind isn’t a computer

  for life just won’t 

    compute

Try and measure a lifetime

  and you will find no 

    route

Humans aren’t replaceable

  not the parts of some

     machine

Try replacing a brother

  such thinking is

    obscene 

   

We are not statistics

  for the measuring

    of the mess

You might measure all the suffering

  but love you can’t 

    assess 

Love isn’t a function

  of evolutionary

    chance

There is more to this story

  more to the 

    great dance 

---

heavily inspired by the writing and thoughts of Wendell Berry. 

Dear Muse

Dear Muse, 

Yes!

Now I have time;

  now we can write.

Dear Friends, 

Yes!

Now I have time;

  now we can talk.

Dear Brain, 

Yes!

Now I have time;

  now we can think.

Dear Legs, 

Yes!

Now I have time;

  now we can walk.

Land, waters sky stars,

  I want to embrace you

    as you’ve embraced me. 

---

Dear Birds,

Yes!

Now I have time;

  now we can sing. 

Dear Soul, 

Yes!

Now I have time;

  now we can play.

Dear Back, 

Yes!

Now I have time;

  now we can stretch.

Dear God, 

Yes!

Now I have time;

  now I can pray.

Why does it take a pandemic,

  for us to have the time 

    to be human?