The Gardener
Santa Clara, CA 95051
theroot_us@yahoo.com

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night vision

C

 

 

 

NIGHT VISION©

 

 

 

SPEAK NOW OR FOREVER

 

 

traditions are hand-me-downs

shop worn, somewhat shiny, with rounded edges

out of place in new circumstances

perhaps salvageable if re-purposed

because they travel in teams

favoring ways that have worked before

 

until somehow the game is changed

the field is redrawn

and players step over lines that have moved

dare their former mates

or perhaps edit them out

like a nose seen unavoidably in a mirror

with a sidelong glance

 

 

hold up the mirror and

duck!

before it is smashed

 

this has all been said before

nothing new

(heads nod in agreement)

it's almost a tradition

 

yea, verily

until it gets real

 

say that humans from on high

have been granted dominion

or that human technology rules

(more nods)

 

or that domination is temporary

a game changer

 

say that the planet is polluted by rampant egoism

elevated to a credo of progress

by human wastes causing climate change

degradation of biodiversity

a pall of destruction over the earth

 

duck!

 

but the game has changed

the earth tells us so

climate change, if not the end

is just the beginning

a new and present danger

bringing ways outside the range of tradition

 

technology has joined the team

new plays

becoming literally part of us

assimilation that redefines humanity

things that step over the line

as in nuclear power and war

 

we can do better

and who will speak for what we can become?

 

listen to who you are

 

 

 

PLUMP DAISEYS

 

 

in the age of reason

a raisin is sweet inside

getting wrinkled

days of wine

a concert at the vineyard

 

speak of precognition, telepathy, clairvoyance

and become a spoiler

imagine coils of DNA

but not the spirit of a Taiko drum

 

such experience ignores authority

will not be packaged or sold

is insubordinate

and might inspire social change

 

clearly unprofitable and dangerous

 

or worse

it bypasses religions

laughs at hierarchy

makes anarchy and atheism irrelevant

 

personal experience pierces the arrow of time

ignores illusions of space

in short it's either madness or music

depending on who makes the call

 

or call it freedom

a musical performance might be commanded

but talent has no master

 

enjoy the concert

 

 

 

 QUESTIONNAIRE 

 

 

as many people as are on the planet

anyone who stomps a foot cannot miss it

yet each person recreates their own

 

outliers are imagined

the whole globe is marked with a grid:

mine][yours][ours][theirs

the grid chops what was whole into pieces

that try to exist on their own

many disagreements and wars

everything withers

 

as many planets as there are people

a few try to co-exist

others want everyone to fit into their own true planet

discontent is not their fault

some refuse to participate in absurdity

a few try to destroy everything

what no one can recreate is creation itself

 

ignored are those who experience the planet

all its people

and the universe of what is and is not

as one whole beyond description

 

 

 

OLYMPUS

 

 

Mount Olympus treks out to twilight

leading a coffle of oil fields, microwave towers, antenna farms

 

countless beings

deserts and forests remain

 

roads, agriculture, pyramids, temples and churches

commerce, knowledge and culture

tap water and wars

the stuff of civilizations

an amalgam either abysmal or glorious

with benefits realized neither by everyone

nor in equal degree by all

 

until recently

horses, camels, elephants, slaves and water wheels

were valued for their ability to move people and things

 

now we have electricity and robots

we will have quantum computers, anti-gravity devices

things yet undiscovered

 

civilizations are formed by people for the common good

focusing energy

for projects unachievable by individuals

 

like proud parents taking credit

we might pause to consider --

we don't create our own bodies

and that each person owes much to civilization

 

but not everything

children live their own lives

have their own children

and civilization owes much to its children

 

but what are commodities owed?

 

a problem arises when people are seen as things

to be bought and sold like horses or oxen

reduced to the status of beasts with voices

who by definition are owed nothing

 

slaves built our canals, highways, cities

plantations for rice, cotton and tobacco

knowing that they are

not horses

 

though illegal now, slavery persists in habits of thought

in social relationships

a tension that will not dissipate overnight

 

but one that is a fundamental change

the very idea that a civilization formed by people

will serve people

rather than the other way around

turns history on its head

 

we are the children of civilization

and now expect freedom and liberation

the lack of which are a fundamental threat

as was illustrated by our civil war

 

there are other threats

 

beneath Yosemite lives a mega volcano

 

the sun, from time to time

emits solar flares that disable power grids

 

because of an asteroid impact the dinosaurs went extinct

 

we have climate change

nuclear power plants and weapons

egoism

wars

destruction of the planet in the name of profit

overpopulation

 

enlightenment for all seems distant

so why not drink, smoke, snort or whatever?

 

but back to the asteroid:

 

let's suppose it can be dealt with, which seems likely

a system for detection is partially in place

a system for deflecting asteroids can be built internationally

 

why wait?

no entrenched interests oppose it

international co-operation is in everyone's best interest

our collective odds for avoiding extinction would be improved

 

۝

 

while looking into the sky

we might reflect that in the entire “out there”

no intelligent life forms are yet known

we do have some indication of the rarity of us

 

my body was not created by me

so acutely aware there is no guarantee it will continue

I appreciate this rare opportunity

in a universe

from which no one is apart

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



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The Gardener
Santa Clara, CA 95051
theroot_us@yahoo.com