Larry Kilham Blog |
We have consumed and spent
and now we are moths to the flame. When opportunities receded and there was no better way our pride flickered and faded and our dreams flew away. Our elders spoke of our faith in common ideals and a higher being to assure our strength anew. Adversity was our challenge and progress pulled us through. Now we can speak of starting again in a beckoning faraway land not on another planet but as leaves of grass in a temperate place far from the political morass. If I return to the human hive and absorb the synthetic surround, I’ll miss nature’s creatures at play and you’ll hear me cry for our dreams that flew away. © 2019 Larry Kilham I saw a robot in the garden today.
It asked me to come and play. But I thought that was a ruse because its battery needed juice. So I asked, Do the birds need feed or is there anything else they need? And it replied, No, just bring the charger so I can stay here longer. And I asked, What about the plants and flowers? and it replied, I’ve been weeding those for many hours. I pressed on, What about the beans and tomatoes corn, squash, and potatoes? Then the robot made bold to say, Come to the garden and bring a sack and I’ll show you how to harvest the veggies and bring them back! (c) Larry Kilham 2019 We walked the desert in our land. We saw shards and wrecks scattered in the sand. Not broken pots or pillars of stone, but defunct computers and pieces of bone. We heard a ghostly voice from a gossamer muse, “Look around for what's nice-- Something besides plastics and rust. The creations of art and music fed the worms and now are dust.” Then we asked: “Can our creations be saved from becoming dust? Can there be resurrection from the scrapyards of rust?” Then we won’t need to colonize space - there’ll be magic here for the human race. © 2019, 2023 Larry Kilham Revised, 2023 See more of my poetry here. We should all take time off to reflect and relax, preferably in a nature setting if possible. It works for me:
I wander in the woods on a path to somewhere distant. I stop where I can pause to wonder in the serenity of the mute forest. I view a far-off place through the trees and create a new place for my mind to float in relaxation and mysteries and return home refreshed. © 2019 Larry Kilham Walking in the the wild can lead to unexpected encounters. Consider what actually happened to me recently: I saw two coyotes crossing a snowy field.
They stopped and looked at me and seemed to say, “No problem.” I banged my ski poles together but they didn’t stir. After they trotted on, I skied towards their starting place in a grove of cottonwoods. On the way in the snow I saw the tracks of two rabbits. Was an owl watching this drama, or even a hawk high above peering down? They guard their presence and thoughts with silence. A couple appeared on skis. “Did you see anything?” the man asked. The coyotes were gone, and words failed me. More of my poetry is here. (c) 2018 Larry Kilham It seems like there will always be a dichotomy between the efficiency and comfort of the city and the naturalness and beauty of the wilderness. We can't bring billions of city dwellers with their urban technology to the wilderness. While everyone should be at one with nature, they never will. Thinking of this during a walk in the woods, I wrote: The raven glides overhead, calling.
Not a creature stirs. I wait in the forest solitude. Suddenly I hear “chickadee-dee-dee.” Life is stirring. The frost melts in the warm sun. The squirrels start chattering the hummingbirds are darting and the bees are buzzing. But I must move on. I’ve arrive in a jumble of noise in the urban forest. Does it invade your mind? Or soften your fear of missing out? Clatter, clatter, life is stirring! The city is the enveloping hive for the bee-like people who come and go gazing at their phones far from the field and forest . Consuming ever more, we can’t turn back. We grasp for solutions as populations struggle ever more and the raven glides overhead, calling. © 2018 Larry Kilham To see all my poems go to my poetry page. In the beginning we came from Africa, dreaming, traversing the savanna and desert, imagining the bright light on the hill. We migrated through the heartlands of Europe, traversing the mountains and plains. We settled down, tending our animals and crops, and our learned men invented science ignited by the bright light on the hill. They gave us energy and machines, and the gods and kings were pleased. We’ve walked on the powdery moon and cured almost every ill as we followed the bright light on the hill. DNA and AI both threaten and glitter as the populations roil and simmer. and the gods and scientists began to slumber. Ever more me-people buzz in their urban hives, and curiosity and hope and imagination are dwindling. Oh! The light is wavering! The dreams are fading! And the rich become the refugees escaping to another land, and Nature will regain the upper hand. (c) 2018 Larry Kilham See all of Larry Kilham's poems on this site here. |