There are still prophets.
They are yelling. Nobody listens.
We haven't got time now
to use them to build religions –
anyway, look where that got us.
(What if we had simply done
as Jesus and Co advised?)
Now it's a race, for the Angels to save
our world and us. It always was.
our world and us. It always was.
I was a child when Grandpa
gave me 'The Silent Spring'.
Now I'm 76. Governments, finally,
begin to show concern ... some.
Many prophets of recent time foretold
the breakdown of our systems,
financial and political. Well???
Some say this could usher in –
if we learn – a new Golden Age.
My father taught me: if everyone waits
until everyone else stands up,
no-one ever will. I have to
do it myself, even if....
do it myself, even if....
Written for Sunday Mini Challenge: Shallows, Deeply (to find something deep in an increasingly shallow world) at 'imaginary garden with real toads'
I think there is more things happening for good, but we seem to always find new ways to correct. Actually the acid rain is gone, the ozone hole is closing. We can if we just try... I just hope we could see all good thing that happens sometimes.
ReplyDeleteExcellent reminders, thank you Bjorn! And a great encouragement to tackle the next issue, and the next....
DeleteI agree with the notion that the writing has been on the wall for a very long time, but the prophets are never heard, or at least listened to. I think of Ayn Rand's Atlas Shrugged, and 1984, and so many other visionary works which have warned of a new age of oppression, in some unprecedented form. You suggest a Golden Age, I do hope that may be true.
ReplyDeleteSo hard to think one's individual voice has power, but of course it does. Thanks, Rosemary. k.
ReplyDeleteAnd if EVERYONE took a stand themselves, without waiting for everyone else .... And indeed, there are many groups of people working together. I guess the other thing we need is to 'keep on keeping on'.
DeleteYes, so true. Everyone takes a side, but so few seem to realize how just sitting there is also a decision. 'Silent Spring' I remember well--and it did a lot of good, that book, but if it were published now, there would be a corporate movement to discredit it on every media outlet from FOX toCNN. It's getting very hard to clean these muddy waters.
ReplyDeleteYes, even if, even so, in spite of...
ReplyDeleteLove the hanging comment at the end. And great advice to stand up without waiting for others to lead the way in doing good.
ReplyDeleteYou've brilliantly tackled a topic that I just couldn't. Really well done, Rosemary.
ReplyDeleteEven if it appears no one is listening or they think we are daft....Rosemary I concur, you have done it again with another brilliant work....we do not listen...but those of us who do, yes we must stand or surely all will be lost. Thank you! We can only keep saying what must be said, even if....
ReplyDeleteAnd doing what must be done, so far as we can from whatever position we're in.
Deletehope... it's getting quite a work out these days...
ReplyDeleteWhat we need, I think, is intention.
DeleteIt's a great manifesto, Rosemary: just stand up and get started. Quite a gift from your grandfather. Rachel Carson's "The Sea Around Us" woke my inner Brendan.
ReplyDeleteI was given that one too! (On a different occasion. Always books for birthdays and Christmas. Yes, I was very lucky.)
DeleteThis inspires me. :)
ReplyDeleteThis calls to mind, for me, Esther. We're called and if we don't stand up...someone else will be called...but what if someday we run out of people to call on. Powerful poem, Rosemary...thank you, for making me think.
ReplyDeleteWell, hopefully many individuals will all stand up, and that will make a crowd.
DeleteDidn't you just love writing this, Rosemary? I liked reading it, a lot.
ReplyDeleteOur government hasn't begun to show concern, they can't agree on anything anymore.
..
If everyone did something,..does not take much effort or time...they would topple governments.From little things big things grow. Alas this will not happen because apathy and self focus is too intrinsic and endemic particularly in Western populations..If you keep on trying...at least you will leave the planet with good conscience and small imprint. My lot get brownie points for this and it is extended to all like minded people even though they are not members...so like it or not Rosemary you are going to end up wearing angel wings anyway, dangling your little feet from a cloud,playing a harp (Chortles and guffaws)
ReplyDeleteLove this, Rosemary. If we do not think we have power, then we don't.
ReplyDeleteI was given a copy of Silent Spring as a child, too. And now...
ReplyDeleteFantastic, Rosemary. Sad how long some of us have known all this, and how very slowly the mainstream takes to begin to understand. It might take utter collapse for humans to get back to the essentials of sustainable living. I see great hope for the future - just not the immediate future, sadly. Love your poem.
ReplyDelete