Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Last Night
Wandering around the perimeter of the field last night, looking at the stars, a wee bit drunk, I was reminded of the empires that have risen and fallen. I was reminded of the many times the greed- and fear-mongers have tried to assume complete control of those who had something they wanted, or had something they feared. Sometimes it just hits me that way, outside, walking on the earth, the transience of power and wealth.
The ground I was walking on was once covered by a vast inland sea, I’m told by the godless geologists. Fish and huge sharks and icthyosaurs once swam where I walk. Later, the sea dried up and huge land animals walked here until they, too, disappeared. Mountains rose up. Later, humans emerged and lived here. Then later, the land here was stolen from a couple of different tribes, and the government and churches worked very hard to exterminate their culture and Christianize them, but you know what? They didn’t succeed. In the old country, the government and churches tried real hard to exterminate my family’s culture and Christianize them. They didn’t succeed. And no matter how hard the current capitalist theocrats try to eradicate my culture and Christianize me, they won’t succeed either.
So, bring it on. Mother earth will have the last say. Those who don’t respect her and her children will soon find that she has limits of tolerance. And as she makes up her mind about humans and what to do with them, I will continue to struggle in my own little ways for those who are victims of greed and of intolerant, ignorant ideologies, keeping in mind all that has come before—the arc of history is long but it bends toward justice. And equilibrium. As Little Milton says,
No matter how great thou art,
No matter what you’re worth,
When it all is up,
You gotta go back to Mother Earth.
And that’s not a bad thing. That’s a good thing. Remembering it keeps things in perspective. And a few stiff drinks don’t hurt, either. Those self-satisfied smirks and self-assured snarlings will sooner or later turn to hands begging for forgiveness.
At least that’s how I felt last night, a little drunk and looking at the stars and the ground.
The ground I was walking on was once covered by a vast inland sea, I’m told by the godless geologists. Fish and huge sharks and icthyosaurs once swam where I walk. Later, the sea dried up and huge land animals walked here until they, too, disappeared. Mountains rose up. Later, humans emerged and lived here. Then later, the land here was stolen from a couple of different tribes, and the government and churches worked very hard to exterminate their culture and Christianize them, but you know what? They didn’t succeed. In the old country, the government and churches tried real hard to exterminate my family’s culture and Christianize them. They didn’t succeed. And no matter how hard the current capitalist theocrats try to eradicate my culture and Christianize me, they won’t succeed either.
So, bring it on. Mother earth will have the last say. Those who don’t respect her and her children will soon find that she has limits of tolerance. And as she makes up her mind about humans and what to do with them, I will continue to struggle in my own little ways for those who are victims of greed and of intolerant, ignorant ideologies, keeping in mind all that has come before—the arc of history is long but it bends toward justice. And equilibrium. As Little Milton says,
No matter how great thou art,
No matter what you’re worth,
When it all is up,
You gotta go back to Mother Earth.
And that’s not a bad thing. That’s a good thing. Remembering it keeps things in perspective. And a few stiff drinks don’t hurt, either. Those self-satisfied smirks and self-assured snarlings will sooner or later turn to hands begging for forgiveness.
At least that’s how I felt last night, a little drunk and looking at the stars and the ground.
