Lately, I've been thinking a lot about climate change, the destruction that will occur because of it, and the importance of learning to live in harmony with the earth. I believe that this learning will be increasingly important as Industrial Civilization recklessly heads towards collapse (Can you believe the US state department recently declared that the Keystone pipeline would have a negligible impact upon the environment? If you believe that you might as well believe the earth is flat!)
I've been working with a group of Avant Gardeners and have been blessed enough to have their help transforming my traditional home into a urban homestead. In a sense, I feel like I'm going back to the land, as a child I was raised in the woods and I can't help but remembering my Mom who would sometimes read me Chief Seattle's great speech before bed, that speech, about being connected to the web of life, helped inspire this poem/song (I've been recording it into song with a friend and once the song is mixed, I will share with y'all).
Light A Candle
Hear my voiceEcho the elders
when they tell us
the earth is sacred
every pine needle
every grain of sand
I know the sap
that courses through the trees
like I know the blood
that flows through my veins
the flowers my sisters
the rivers my brothers
the air gives us breath
so how can a man
own the land
when he is not the weaver
but merely a strand
in the web of life
understand then
what we do to this web
we do to ourselves
so what will happen
when the last tree is logged
the bees are all gone
and the last salmon caught
it will be the end of living
the beginning of survival
so listen to these words
uttured by Chief Seattle
and don't curse darkness
instead light candles!
So How did this happen?
drilling, fracking,
can't drink the water that comes out the tap and
can't breathe the air
where they build a coal plant and
they build a pipeline
from the Tar Sands and
cut short the lifeline
of this planet
so lets examine
supply and demand when
keeping up with the Joneses
Equals eco-psychosis
because it's debt ridden
this capitalism is a system
of living based on infinite growth
on a finite globe
so we cut down the old growth
make paper cups, for us to use once
throw it away, make a mountain of trash
WE DONE WITH THAT
I hang with Avant Gardeners and Forest Defenders
and we remember our ancestors
and re-myth the message
for our progression
into the future
yes we use computers
don't buy new ones
every single year
so with this right here
we make mesocosmic moves
grow grass roots
through the city
occupy vacant lots
create eco villages
livin simply so others may
simply live
cuz, we don't wanna win
political battles
and we don't curse darkness
instead we light Candles!
Peace, Love, Joy, Wisdom...
-Plaedo
