Right or wrong,
Good or bad,
Us or them,
Have or have not.
A world of
Stark dualities
Inevitably creating
Winners and losers.
Some notice that
Imagination is
Missing from this
Severe equation:
The ability to
Envision a world
Where everyone
Is able to win.
The inspiring resilience of
Those who endure unimaginable
Horror at some point in life
And refuse to remain bound by
Dread, realizing instead that
There is more to life than
Settling into the lowest hollow,
Rising to heights of limitless,
Healing, love and peace.
Arriving at a place
Free of contamination;
Anger and recrimination
Fading beyond memory,
A growing sense of peace,
Years of toil culminating
In a single exhalation.
She dares speak her mind,
Asking for equality –
A chance to succeed
Unencumbered by antiquated
Notions about what
She can and can’t do.
Upsetting confining structures
Erected by insecure tyrants
Who bristle when their
Dominance is questioned.
A simple plea for fairness
Met with scathing reproach,
Urgent calls for retribution
Because she has the temerity
To ask to be treated with
Dignity and respect rather
Than be relegated to what
They deem her place.
Unsettlingly tall smokestacks
Belch sinister clouds of smoke
Into the pristine night sky.
A river runs red and sterile,
Oily, thick waters embellished
With mounds of ghastly froth.
Another giant fear mobile rolls off
The assembly line, roaring to life
On dirty petrochemicals.
A few well-fed magnates
Conveniently forget their grandchildren
Have to live on this planet too.
Not knowing
What to do next but
Forging forth
Without hesitation,
Leaving space for
Anything that might
Come along,
Welcoming everything,
No arbitrary constraints,
All things possible.
Raging at the driver
In the next lane,
Listening to an
Anger-filled voice
Exhorting hatred and
Violence on the radio,
Arriving at home to
Shout at his wife and kids,
An existence suffocated
By vitriol, fear, unhappiness,
Unresolved issues.
He seeks help.
A person arrived at a wall,
Stared straight at it and said,
“This is a wall.”
Another person arrived at a wall,
Stared straight at it and said,
“I wonder what’s behind this wall.”
A third person arrived at a wall,
Looked to the right, looked to the left,
And walked around it.
Things being done
As they always have been,
Unchecked exploitation
Conceived when there were
No other considerations,
Decimating everything
For profit.
Growing movement,
Compassionate, resolute,
Rises from the ruins,
Understands we don’t have
To kill each other,
That we’re intelligent
Enough to thrive together.
