the threads are carefully snipped
one by one.
what remains begins to fray.
the fibers spindle down
to nothing,
the weave coming apart
until it
just
disappears.
the earth still spins its dance.
the moon laughs.
the sun ever nurses
the forest floor,
the moss,
all the tendrils of life
pushing up
where forgotten fibers
brew the soil.
Hell, yeah. It was a breath of fresh air to see first Tulsi Gabbard and now, yes, even Donald Trump, call out and expose the supposed Covid relief bill Congress pushed through. If it wasn’t already apparent, the approval of this ‘bill’ demonstrates such open contempt for the American people that no doubt can remain in the mind of any thinking person about the breathtaking, evil corruption in our “representation.”
The 5,000-plus pages of brazen handouts to an astonishing array of entities, both foreign and domestic, under the guise of Covid relief is beyond insulting, it is criminal. The people we’re paying in Washington need to be fired, yesterday.
And where, by the way, was incoming Joe Biden while this reprehensible act played out? After the fact, he suggests that he’ll push for more assistance in the next bill. Sorry, Joe, but your “down payment” is a day late and a dollar short. Come on, man.
Failing an overthrow of Congress, I’d settle at this point for a clean Covid Relief Bill, with none of the outright theft and sleight of hand that constitutes the majority of what Congress just passed. This would be a bill that includes actual relief for the people. And that does not amount to any 5,000 pages, mind you. While that’s going down, let’s boot Pelosi, too, and have some real discussion on healthcare for pete’s sake.
The people. That’s us. The ones paying these cretins. The ones paying for all this corruption. Wake up. Step up. We deserve better.
No matter the headlines
Earth turns as she will
breathing with the sun
the stars the moon
The universe does not ask
tides ebb and flow
leaves float on the wind
mute but for the dance
No matter the screens glow
the planet traces the unknown
with certainty
holding us, tenderly, always.
As we all watch our leaders in Washington struggle, yet again, to bring themselves to serve the people instead of, say, defense contractors, who can help but wonder what we can do.
As we watch even the progressive “squad” demur from forcing Medicare for All to a floor vote during a pandemic, we wonder just what it will take to effect real change.
Each day, as we see the President-elect prepare to nominate yet another empty-suited crony to a top position in the new administration, we struggle to know how real change, positive change will come.
We feel powerless, helpless to change this massive system that rolls along and over so many.
And yet, it is we who really do hold the power in our hands. Short of organizing, beyond organizing, there is one simple thing each of us can do that would immediately trigger change towards the world we want to see.
If we all really want peace on earth and good will to all beings, we will walk away from using and eating animals. It’s that simple. And it’s something any of us – yes, even you – can do.
The uncomplicated act of refusing to participate in our society’s oppression, abuse, and killing of animals on a scale beyond imagination is the beginning and the key to massive, positive societal change.
If our society really embraces a whole food plant-based diet, we will witness profound changes in everything from much-improved health to a reversal of climate destruction (and just in the nick of time). We will break the grip of the cabal of corporations on government and in our lives.
We will change the world in amazing ways, turning toward a compassion-based way of life instead of the cruel competition that we were taught to believe is inevitable and normal.
Cruelty, killing, impoverishment, suffering, control is not normal. Nor is it inevitable. We have the power to change it for the animals, and, in so doing, we will change it for ourselves and our culture. We will change it for our children, and theirs.
So simple. It’s something you can do. It’s enjoyable. There’s tons of support and information. Be delighted by what you discover.
YOU have the power. Step up. Go ahead, change the world.
I look up to the sky
and feel my heart open
to the birds silently winging
so full of grace and purpose in their mission
I notice the trees
where the squirrels ramble
playful, elfin
they melt my heart into a smile
On the mountain path
the elk and the bear and the snake
surprise my heart, filling it
with beauty and power and mystery
The ocean churns with its deep secrets
where a glimpse of the whale
captures the breath of my heart
in a moment purely wild and free
My heart beats with all of life
a radiant symphony,
the inspired strains of all beings,
each part essential,
melding into this profound work
complete and whole and perfect.
The new year approaches. It’s the perfect time for all of us to collectively choose a new year’s resolution. What if we all agreed that 2021 is the year we get healthy?
It’s not complicated. For the most part, it’s as simple as transitioning to a whole food, plant-based diet along with getting our bodies into some motion. Throw in some fresh air and sunshine, and it’s a wonderful package that improves our individual and collective health while also addressing the number one factor that can help to heal our planetary environmental crisis.
The data is out there (science, you know) that demonstrates a whole food, plant-based diet can prevent, mitigate, or reverse the big name killer diseases we’ve been living with for far too long — you know, these are all those co-morbidities that have sadly compromised so many with the coronavirus. Heart disease, lung disease, diabetes, cancers, kidney disease, high blood pressure — all of these things and more can be prevented, mitigated, or reversed by simply making the switch from meat-dairy-processed to plants.
The data is out there (yup, that pesky science again), that shows animal agriculture’s negative impact on our personal health as well as the health of our planet. It is the number one factor contributing to our climate crisis as it bulldozes rainforests, pollutes our air, soils, and oceans, and drives species to extinction at an alarming rate. We are all part of this problem and have the power to fix it with a simple lifestyle change that only benefits us.
We spent 2020 collectively fear-focused on fighting Covid-19. We spent the entire year engaging in stop-gap measures, many of which were destructive for people in terms of economics, social fabric, mental health, education, and, yes, even physical health. We could have chosen health during that time, but, even now, many choose instead to simply wait, masked and reclusive, breathlessly placing their trust in a vaccine for which long-term safety is an absolute unknown.
Next year could be different. Let’s make 2021 the year we take a positive, no-fear approach to a better, safer world. Let’s make 2021 the year we actually focus on getting and being healthy — together.
No more. Who can read of yet another person put to death at the hands of government and not feel ashamed, angry, sad, revolted? This is so wrong on every level, and it must end. These are the leaders to whom the American people have granted power. These are the tax dollars that came out of your pockets put to such evil purposes, as if those aren’t many. We sit, silently absorbing these sick acts as they appear across our screens, supposing we have nothing to do with it. But in our silence we grant these powers to these leaders, we pay the bills, and we must finally recognize our complicity in these beyond-reprehensible acts. We must rise up, together, to speak against these murders and more. Media claims that would-be President Biden will put a stop to it, and that had better be the case. But with more of these murders planned between now and the 20th, cry out, “Stop!”, in the name of decency, humanity. Sadly, this abhorrent issue is one of many where we need to find our collective, compassionate voice and power. America, we can be so much better than this. Let us begin to reshape our country with compassion.
I stand before my window, gazing out into the deepening night skies, searching for that first star upon which to make my wish. There it is — winking happily at me, as if it is not beyond comprehension in its beauty and mystery. My lips move silently with my tender wish. The star listens and sparkles reassuringly. I gaze long, slowly taking in this star, and then that star, and stars beyond. Ah, look there! I see my wish as it sails on through the galaxy, blessed by all.
No matter the church doors shut,
science is the new religion.
Cover your face, humble yourself in solitary contemplation,
bow in fear of the awesome power of your new god.
Believe! the white-coated preachers call.
Faith and money will save you.
Proffer ample gold at the altar of the chosen science,
then bring your body and soul to the sacrifice.
Bow before the altar,
turn not your eyes toward any other.
Make outcasts of those who would be scientists
with data or ideas deemed unholy by your master.
Mingle not with heretics
no matter how learned.
Spit on them, damn them, gag them
in deference to the one true deliverer of science.
Shun the neighbor who questions.
Open your throat and
extend your arm for the sacraments.
Place your children on the pyre of the appointed science, too.
Empty their minds and yours of other notions.
The proclaimed science does not query,
nay, it commands the natural world.
Question not.
The homeless, the unemployed, the lonely, the struggling, the ostracized, the injured, the ill, the once-free —
see how the saving arms of the only true science make it all so deserved.
Believe and be grateful.
turtle in the pond
live free
and happy
while the sun shines down
and the leaves flutter in the breeze
and the fish swim by
and the birds dip low
and the dragonflies skitter past
and the greenness of growing things surrounds you
turtle in the pond
live free
and happy
until day the researcher bands you
or the birds and the dragonflies mysteriously disappear
or the fish die off from pollutants
or the agricultural run-off chokes your lifeblood
or the net dips down for you
or the bulldozers come
turtle in the pond
we are not so different, are we?
live free
and happy
we are all turtles in the pond
earth sky air 