Err Quality

With salad days

no longer

upon us

as fears

intensify

not just

from lettuce,

let us

consider

how to act

our age

of one 

disaster

after another,

ever threatening

food,

air,

and water.

Skies of orange

and smoke

are no joke

and occurring

more often

now.

How can

cuts 

in government

effectively

prevent

these crises?

Fire fighting,

ever frightening,

is becoming

more than

seasonal.

It’s reasonable

to link

constant

crises

to larger 

opportunities.

Do we 

now live in

the Pyrocene?

And what

does that

mean?

Is this all

a warning

about global

warming?

Are we reassuring

ourselves

without insuring

ourselves

financially

or substantially

reckoning

with what

the series

of crises

is beckoning?

Rethinking

forest maintenance

certainly

makes sense

in order

to achieve

better balance.

How much

damage

is too much

for such

a planet

as ours?

The powers

that be

want to see

as much money

from each 

oil and tech

company

as possible

which results

in possibly

the stupidest

policy

gutting

thinkable.

There’s been

so much

progress 

in the private

sector

in green

technology,

but without

government

enforcement

of environmental

policy,

the intentional

destruction,

hardly

an error,

means

life is scarier

as a result.

The cost

of putting

out fires,

political

and literal,

is becoming

too great.

This 

climate

crisis

is 

upon us,

exacerbating

conditions

for deadly

lettuce,

much less,

endless

fire season

and other

disasters

that are

unnatural.

Please 

hold the powerful

to account

for this mounting

crisis.

Are you 

contacting

your legislator?

Are you giving

to a climate

nonprofit?

We can 

remedy

some,

and become

more 

adaptable,

but the less

we do

the more

intractable

it will be.

Work

It’s

Working

For

Now.

Fear 

Is

The combustible

Engine

We drive

Barely

Navigating

This dirt

Road— 

Narrow,

Bumpy, 

Endless.

Dead

End

Signs

Everywhere,

Looking

For

Off

Ramps,

Seeing

Nothing

But

Torment.

Exhausted,

Thirsty,

Without

Appetite

Being

Responsible

Despite

Everything.

Is

This

Being

Responsible?

Barely

Surviving;

Constantly

Depleted?

Objects

In

Mirror

Are 

Closer

Than 

They 

Appear.

Difficult

Choices

Increasingly

Limited,

Seeing

No

New

Options.

Not

A

Path

But

A ditch

From which

Wheels

Spin.

Ditch

The vehicle

Transporting

Nowhere

As this fear

Feels

Safer than

Others.

It’s 

Familiar,

Albeit

Amplified.

Convinced

That

Alternate

Routes

Do

Not

Exist

Now,

And

Alternate

Facts

Prevail,

Stop

Believing

This

Stuff!

Doing

Something

Else

Can work. 

Life Expectancy

The headline today:

US losing

Life 

Expectancy

Due to 

COVID19

The average

Lifespan

Is 

One 

Year

Less.

Life expectancy

Has generally

Denoted

Progress

Referring to

Extending

Years

Of living.

The goal

Has been

To be

Alive

As 

Long

As

Possible.

Now,

Some seek

To define

Life

Extending

Before

Birth

As long

As possible.

(Thus far,

We’ve counted

After birth.)

What to

Expect

When

You’re expecting?

Your

Life 

Matters

Less

Than

Potential

Biological

Processes 

Not yet 

Formed

Or 

Counted

On 

The scale

Of Life

Expectancy.

My unscientific 

Analysis

Suggests that 

Most of us

Want to approach

 A century

 On earth

 Outside a womb

Feeling ok

Then passing

Peacefully

In our sleep.

I don’t expect

My life

To end

That way

Or 

Unfold

Without

Issues. 

What

Do we

Expect

Of life

After 

Birth

Before

Death?

That 

Deserves

More 

Attention

As we

Are losing

All that

Too.