Hi there!
I’m back home to Eugene, and returning to posting after a much-needed two week break. I didn’t know how good it would feel to be back. Is it just me, or does international travel through major airports always seem to highlight how much is going wrong around the world? Then I remember I live in the global North, and can exercise enough control over my daily routines to avoid all the rampant suffering and repeating historical traumas disrupting my already precarious peace of mind.
I’m thinking of the mass exodus of Venezualans through Central America bound for America, robbing tourists or picking coffee beans for subpar pay along the way; Ukrainian transplants to Costa Rica, waiting to hear every day if their family members in Kiev have survived the latest drone strikes; the Department of Homeland Security chief encouraging vigilance against your fellow travelers on a TV screen, looming over TSA security lines like Big Brother; the iron bars and trash pileups alongside housing slums in south central LA; news of the latest death tolls skyrocketing in Palestine and Israel on Democracy Now! while my wife’s mom’s elderly housing partner keeps talking my ear off about “what are we going to do, man?”
And my answer comes down to, I don’t know. But I don’t have to. I only have to know what I’m going to do, which is investing my time and attention in the tasks that not only bring me joy, but that feel healthy, not only for myself but my environment as well. Sometimes that means talking about these issues, laughing and grieving to discharge the way we internalize these tragedies whether we’d like to or not, and other times it means immersing in the task to steward the natural sources of clean air, water, and earth we have left amidst all the destruction. That’s when I can get through the despair and feel authentically grateful for where I find myself now, amidst friends and teachers dedicated to permaculture, nonviolent communication, and other rehabilitive efforts to benefit our sociological and ecological futures.
That seems as fitting an introduction as any to one of the first poems I’ll share from my recent Costa Rican vacation. I wrote it on the first leg of my flight about this culture I was leaving, one that gives me as much sense of belonging as I’ve ever known, equally dedicated to learning, loving the land, and divesting from warmongering colonial nation-states.
Take me to the timeless lands
Tended by literate anarchist gardeners
Who leave the soil unturned
So the grounds grow softer, our hands harder,
And hearts richer
Like plump fruit falling on the heads of our descendants
Whose laughter keeps the spirit
Of love hide-and-seeking behind our labors
Alive every harvest festival
In joyous revelry’s appeals
That we might always have enough food to thrive
And never too little, or too much, to make war.
Lastly, a request for my regular readers. If you enjoy my work here, please consider sharing the poems on your own platforms or, better still, recommending and reading them to friends and loved ones in person.
For me, the intention of poetry is healing, both for the poet and audience, and it is meant to be read aloud. I don’t request any monetary compensation for maintaining this blog, but my hope is that it gives my writing more exposure so I can eventually support myself and the other facets of my life through the work that feels most spiritual and rejuvenating. All it takes for you to help contribute to this is a few clicks and some words from the heart. There’s no wrong way to do it. Thanks for considering.