Causation
It’s dangerous out there
I know
(sometimes in here)
Sometimes in
All the things
That do not sensibly
Go together
Illusion of peace
While there is war
Freedom while many
Are slaves
Breathing in
What seems a pretty sky
With all things we’ve put in it
Do you get it?
I’m not sure I do
So many killing things
With industries to keep ourselves alive
When they arrive
Extraterrestrials will wonder
What we’ve done to ourselves
And why
Unless they speak among themselves
Yes, we remember profit
We remember cheapened life
Thank goodness
And our gods,
We grew out of that
Discovered what they really mean
To have
And have not
C L Couch
Photo by Artem Labunsky on Unsplash
clcouch123 
June 17, 2020 at 8:16 pm
Yes, learning what it means to have and to have not is not taught in schools, or if it is, it’s with the aim of urging kids to get ahead, get in there first, grab the most and rise to the top of the heap so you can spit on all the losers who didn’t make it.
I know that charity is written into all religions, like putting a valve on a pressure cooker. It’s not the answer for the poor, though, it’s for the peace of mind of the rich (and the not so rich), a few more credits on their cards for when they need to cash them in.
June 19, 2020 at 2:19 am
Thanks, I do think what not to have should be taught and learned. And if we can break the current conditioning on having things–many things we do not need–maybe we’d see the sense in balancing ownership, resources, and what should be our concern for others. The pressure-valve metaphor is certainly apt. As is your take on charity, which too often is a matter of appeasement.
June 19, 2020 at 8:14 am
There isn’t much of use that is taught in schools when you think about it, and a cynic would say that the state is not going to have state-funded schools teaching kids to defy the basis of their economy and opt out of the race to accumulate rubbish. I’m a terrible cynic.
June 17, 2020 at 10:50 pm
Well-expressed commentary on our present situation, which of course, is deeply embedded in our past. Everything is circular and cyclical. I hope we can break the cycle.
June 19, 2020 at 2:22 am
You’re right, we need to break the cycle, especially one that’s socially- (not naturally-) imposed. I often think of a line of people headed the wrong way. If one person turns around, the reaction might be punishing. But the line and the line’s direction have stopped and now can change.
June 18, 2020 at 5:13 am
You are so right my friend!
June 19, 2020 at 2:23 am
Thank you, friend! I’m thankful for your own good work.
June 19, 2020 at 6:07 am
❤️💕☕️☕️❤️💕
June 18, 2020 at 6:15 pm
A time of confusion, uncertainty, upheaval and possible change………or not. Stay centred, Christopher.
June 19, 2020 at 2:26 am
Thank you, Len, that’s good advice. I am a person of faith, though I try not to control that but to be open to the source.
June 18, 2020 at 9:10 pm
I love the juxtapositions: illusion of peace while there is war, freedom while there are slaves. I wonder what will win out in the end. The story is still unwritten, but I always hope that love will win out.
June 19, 2020 at 2:30 am
I think love will win, probably in surprising ways that wouldn’t be so surprising if we had been listening all along. Thank for acknowledging the contradictions. Sometimes contradictions are just right, but these (contradictory) pairings are problematic. Sometimes I think we’re anesthetized or we’re anesthetizing ourselves with only the one side (peace and freedom, say). But there is the other, too, which should be, as Marley said to Scrooge, our business.
June 20, 2020 at 6:59 pm
I hope love will win, although hearing about the horrid rally in Tulsa today, which makes my stomach turn, it’s hard to believe love will win out.
June 20, 2020 at 10:21 pm
That was an awful meeting, wasn’t it? Slapping down the importance of the day for Blacks and all of us, attempting to lift up such an awful person. And each person there signing away the right to complain if he or she gets the virus from being in attendance. A hard day for love, you’re right. But people who like love must keep on trying. I think we will.