Stop. Just stop.
It is no longer a request. It is a
mandate.
We will help you.
We will bring the supersonic, high speed
merry-go-round to a halt
We will stop
the planes
the trains
the schools
the malls
the meetings
the frenetic, furied rush of illusions
and "obligations" that keep you from hearing our
single and shared beating
heart,
the way we breathe together, in
unison.
Our obligation is to each
other,
As it has always been, even if, even
though, you have forgotten.
We will interrupt this broadcast, the
endless cacophonous broadcast of divisions and distractions,
to bring you this long-breaking
news:
We are not well.
None of us; all of us are
suffering.
Last year, the firestorms that scorched
the lungs of the earth
did not give you pause.
Nor the typhoons in Africa,China,
Japan.
Nor the fevered climates in Japan and
India.
You have not been listening.
It is hard to listen when you are so
busy all the time, hustling to uphold the comforts and conveniences that
scaffold your lives.
But the foundation is giving
way,
buckling under the weight of your needs
and desires.
We will help you.
We will bring the firestorms to your
body
We will bring the fever to your
body
We will bring the burning, searing, and
flooding to your lungs
that you might hear:
We are not well.
Despite what you might think or feel, we
are not the enemy.
We are Messenger. We are Ally. We are a
balancing force.
We are asking you:
To stop, to be still, to
listen;
To move beyond your individual concerns
and consider the concerns of all;
To be with your ignorance, to find your
humility, to relinquish your thinking minds and travel deep into the mind of the
heart;
To look up into the sky, streaked with
fewer planes, and see it, to notice its condition: clear, smoky, smoggy, rainy?
How much do you need it to be healthy so that you may also be
healthy?
To look at a tree, and see it, to notice
its condition: how does its health contribute to the health of the sky, to the
air you need to be healthy?
To visit a river, and see it, to notice
its condition: clear, clean, murky, polluted? How much do you need it to be
healthy so that you may also be healthy?
How does its health contribute to the
health of the tree, who contributes to the health of the sky, so that you may
also be healthy?
Many are afraid now.
Do not demonize your fear, and also, do
not let it rule you.
Instead, let it speak to you—in your
stillness,
listen for its wisdom.
What might it be telling you about what
is at work, at issue, at risk,
beyond the threats of personal
inconvenience and illness?
As the health of a tree, a river, the
sky tells you about quality of your own health,
what might the quality of your health
tell you about the health of the rivers, the trees, the sky,
and all of us who share this planet with
you?
Stop.
Notice if you are resisting.
Notice what you are
resisting.
Ask why.
Stop. Just stop.
Be still.
Listen.
Ask us what we might teach you about
illness and healing, about what might be required so that all may be
well.
We will help you, if you
listen.
--Kristin Flyntz
Kristin Flyntz is the assistant editor of Dark Matter: Women Witnessing (darkmatterwomenwitnessing.com),
which publishes writing and visual art in response to an age of massive species
loss and ecological collapse. It is a home for dreams, visions, and
communications with the nonhuman world, especially those with messages for how we
might heal our broken relationship to the earth.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
If Trump were Captain of the Titanic:
“There isn't any iceberg.”
“There was an iceberg but it's in a totally different ocean.”
“The iceberg is in this ocean but it will melt very soon. Very, very soon.”
“There is an iceberg but we didn't hit the iceberg.”
“We hit the iceberg, slightly, but the damage will be repaired very shortly.”
“The iceberg is a Chinese iceberg.”
“We are taking on water but every passenger who wants a lifeboat can get a lifeboat, and they are very beautiful lifeboats.”
“Look, passengers need to ask nicely for the lifeboats if they want them.”
“We don't have any lifeboats, we're not lifeboat distributors.”
“Passengers should have planned for icebergs and brought their own lifeboats.”
“I really don't think we need that many lifeboats.”
“We have lifeboats and they're supposed to be our lifeboats, not the passengers' lifeboats.”
“The lifeboats were left on shore by the last captain of this ship.”
“Nobody could have foreseen the iceberg."
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