sonora2sonoma

 

Life in Between

We live on the margins

A fragile sliver of bio-dynamism.

a thin veneer of subsisting and persisting vitality,

Floating above the slow churn–

the sea of magma–

at our planet’s core,

While suspended beneath

the soundless, boundless

and lifeless

vacuum of space.

 

Two lifeless realms

between which we, like pastrami on rye,

reside, placed, by design or mere circumstance–

Take your pick!

 

A cambium layer, of sorts,

comprising the whole of life as we know it

within its metaphorical boundaries of phloem and xylem

upon which we depend for our very existence.

Venture too far in either direction

and existence becomes extinction!

 

And what do we do with this miracle of circumstance?

Regard it with the awe and reverence it’s due,

hopeful that our tenuous footing will sustain?

Apply what we know to increase our chances of sustained occupancy?

 

We exist on the margins, within definable limits

beyond which life as we know it cannot survive.

One might imagine, on first blush, that the choice would be obvious . . .

Survival should be the ultimate goal!

 

Yet industry and commerce rule where reason should prevail

and limitations are viewed as hindrances to bigger profits

So lessons go unheeded, much less learned

and fools do what they’ve always done, mindless of the consequences,

their bad choices compounding the burden of debt

the least fortunate among us are always expected to pay.

 

Only when the results of their actions begin to affect them personally

will the decision-makers start to take heed

but will their responses suffice?

 

Will insights revealed by economic adversity

sharpen these peoples’ thirst to seek real solutions

that benefit not just themselves, but everyone

Or will they remain incurious, confining their focus to measures designed to continue their exploitation of the planet

and its inhabitants

at the least possible personal cost?

 

A day of reckoning is due! The deadline is approaching.

With the passage of time come changes–some subtle, some dramatic.

The slowest of all change–that of ideas–proceeds at a glacial pace,

But the glaciers are melting!

 

Once a popular notion, the belief in the Fountain of Youth

waned over time.

Maybe it’s time to let go of an equally foolish idea–

the notion of perpetual, unrestrained growth.

 

Revised 13 January, 2018

Tim Konrad