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Life-Calling

 

The seasons change, we know

Except in the middle

Where the change has more to do with

Now it grows, now it doesn’t

As in California (when I lived there)

There was a green time and a brown time

(still goes, I think, though a red time

must be added

for the fires)

But the Earth changes without

Relenting

 

And more of us are wondering

Where is it going

We care, I think, more and more

But here’s the thing:

We make life too hard for too many

Too many thirsty

Hungry

Fearful for shelter

Security in life

We shackle ourselves

And take too many with us

The lower, wider level of the pyramid doesn’t

Hasn’t

Had the chance

Much less completion

To be Maslovian about the metaphor

 

We need to decide that

Practically and spiritually

Life matters

That Maslow’s self-actualization model

And motive makes sense,

More so if we acknowledge other-actualization

To make that happen, too

We cannot fear for food

For jobs

For the chance to come together

Lovers, families

Present with at least a slight gaze

Toward the future

 

We say (some say), well, we must make profit

First

The world is an oyster

I’m not sure why this device

Except for pearls inside on

Occasion, though that is treasure

We might have, might not

Metaphors aside (though they are helpful

for the learning)

We are born with life

And life should be extended

It is its own virtue

(its own treasure)

Life warrants the living

For the Bedouin, the citizen in Hong Kong

Activist in South Sudan

Broker in Germany, cowboy in

Argentina, polar researcher

Suburban dweller in the U.S.A.

 

The pantheist, agnostic

Jainist, Buddhist, Hindu

Muslim, Jew, Christian (all kinds)

Those whose belief is not to have

But value the

Immediate

 

Those who see the spiritual in the land

Those who value more the material

Itself, instead

Nearly all has value

 

So those who can must choose

And choose for others

For the sake of motive and salvation

Of the world, others must matter more

Inconvenient, maybe

But there it is

It’s not a death to selfishness

The self is too important

But we make a web,

A net

For life

Where everyone might rest

In time

 

What prophecy might drive us

There are good words everywhere

But make life possible for all

Just short of boredom

Though wouldn’t that become the better

Problem?

For those who are angry

Those who are afraid

Those who feel need too desperately

To those who think that sin is better virtue

 

Like rough wood on a lathe,

Turning will be needed

An inner mission, not to be contorted

From outside

Much might be sacrificed before

Each part becomes a whole

Each one has a reason

For building in a season

 

What prophecy might drive us

The word upon our hearts

The mind once set on course

Better, if inspired, by

Stories in the stars

 

Like Rosie, We can do it!

Like Martin, we can dream

Like Tutu and the Dalai Lama, forgiveness

Can be forged

All good theory put in practice

A few absolutes to share

 

Life is good

Food and drink for life

Homes built

Pay earned

The chance to grow inside

To find and have

The pleasure in each day

 

It is not a promise for lesser accomplishment

But freedom to make so much more

 

C L Couch

 

 

Photo by balaji sundaram on Unsplash