My Safe Places

dancing with the Incas in their ancient worship of the holy snow-capped Andes

floating off towards untouchable blue Tibetan peaks with chanting Buddhist monks

surfing with the seals in the rich smelling foamy waves there in a far-off NorCal paradise

pollinating lovely infrared flower patterns with the other bees on my honey-making job

spending time in the New Stone Age, crafting tools and fighting cave bears

orbiting our earth at the very limit of the exosphere, taking in all her colors

roiling with a strong clean river, smelling the big migrating salmon flashing all around me

getting covered with red desert sandstone dust in all its finely-ground Anasazi grace

peeping out with tiny montane tundra flowers after 8 months beneath deep snow

speeding with the suns reflection across the cup of a huge, cleanly breaking swell

pausing beneath the midnight sun to watch the rivers running to the north

taking in the winter light from a panoramic southern exposure, far from any road

pushing across the bluest sky with the puffy clouds on that perfect day in May

Hunting with the dolphins, co-operating with the bluefins, feeding on the life force

Losing my pre-conceptions as I drop their illusions and tear up my prescriptions

Circulating with the oceanic currents, from the surface to the bottom, all around the globe

Slaloming the methane powder mountains all alone, on the active moons of Saturn

Savoring fresh Indian ocean sushi with the great whites off the coast of South Africa

crossing the Bering Strait with mammoths, admiring vast herds of ice age mega-fauna

fattening with the giant brown bears as my coat grows thick and glossy

watching the first spring sunrise with the emperors on Antarctica’s frozen coast

dining on tons of krill strained through my baleen right alongside the great blue whales

gleaming in the dancing rainbows off the shimmering green cliffs of the Hawaiian coast

sighing with the ponderosa pines as we hear another gust of autumn wind approaching

waiting on the tide for dinner as the rain tinkles above us on the Inside Passage

riding on the chords of good music to a place so far above, where I can only try to stay

watching the sled dogs pull our family away from my final place, alone upon an ice floe

raking that impeccable garden for an eternal moment in a quiet Zen sanctuary

searching blue canyonland shadows with the eyes of a Navajo medicine man

painting spirit creatures on the walls of our ceremonial cave in ancient Spain

meditating with the Buddha beneath the great tree of life, pondering the river’s gentle whispers

gazing up from sunlit coral gardens through the warm waters of our mother ocean

searching for more reassuring sign of the totem that guides me all the days of my life

crying out with the hawks far above by the cliffs where the sunset still radiates

howling with the wolfpack at 30 below beneath the aurora borealis, feeling our mortality

seeking that ancient understanding pulsing so close beneath the thin skin of things

The Most Unthinkable Ultimate Weapon

Some crackpot wacko researcher has gone and done the unthinkable deed at last

And now it’s up to us to make sure this thing doesn’t fall into terrorist hands

Turns out it’s really quite simple to make and way too easy to secretly transport

We got to retain tight control of this invention or our precious liberty is surely at risk

The mad scientists have gone and let an evil genie out of the bottle once again

Proliferation cannot be an option for the freedom loving peoples of the world

If our enemies get hold of this, it will threaten our traditional family values

We alone must retain control of this awful power - for the benefit of all mankind

Our strategic analysts warn of its terrible consequences for our military establishment

It’s just the kind of thing that the one-worlders have been wanting for use against us

This weapon could upset our carefully crafted, fear-based global power balance

It will put the people of our sacred fatherland at the mercy of the godless heathen

There’s no denying its potential to do good if we were to use it in the proper manner

But, in the hands of radicals, it would represent a clear and present danger

Its proliferation would pose the gravest threat of any doomsday scenario yet

Mr. President, we must act at once to halt the spread of this terrible innovation

Already, there is intelligence that our enemies seek it on the world’s black markets

We have detected some French testing out on one of their remote Pacific atolls

Unconfirmed reports say an outlaw state is trying to acquire its raw materials in Africa

Some kind of loony religious cult wants to loose it on the entire world in aerosol form

We got to keep a closer eye on our so-called allies in the light of this new threat

We are ramping up our domestic intelligence gathering a bit more in secret, just in case

They say it might even be introduced covertly into our food and water supply

What we need is another world treaty which we can ignore but force others to obey

Already, reckless young people are experimenting upon each other with this stuff

The generals and politicians are demanding that the policy wonks craft a solution

This thing could spiral way beyond our control and end all our cozy partnerships

We must quickly ramp up coordinated media, military and diplomatic campaigns

Congress must quietly funnel millions for secret research and covert operations

Believe it or not they’ve found a vaccination for that sacred pox known as war

Step Up And Respin Ourselves

ditch the profitable fiction that war is simply a matter of our own unchangeable genetics

quit going forth and multiplying dumbly and decrease our numbers to a sustainable level

put aside our mindless, noisy, smoking toys and simply ponder the wind in the trees for a moment

forsake shortsighted smash and grab profit for a 1000 year economy and a thoughtful culture

dump the devastating myth that only we were born with a soul in the image of our fantasy gods

remeasure our success by what remains for our those who perchance might follow us

respin our myths and make it our responsibility to pass on an intact web of life

realize that there are neither jobs nor money without an ecosystem to support them

abolish the sinful suffering we criminally inflict upon our domesticated brothers…

understand well their sacrifices and at least consume them with some recognition

integrate our brilliant but incomplete economic system into the natural world that supports it

abandon outdated notions that clean air and water are merely so-called free goods

quit ignoring our toxic byproducts, dead bycatch and long-lasting side effects

stop believing that a giant shoddily-built house is the ultimate in status and luxury

stay under the radar instead of trying to buy people’s attention on 28% interest credit cards

pay a deposit on that packaging and make manufacturers take back wornout goods

for god’s sake, save fossil fuels and subsidize solar, wind and thorium reactors

get our dumbass noses out of the middle east by getting off of their petroleum

stop wasting more than all the other nations combined on our so-called dEfense

don’t bother building 500 horsepower hydrogen vehicles that fall apart in 3 years

let’s not make things clean and efficient merely to support another 3 billion in poverty

forget about interstellar travel until we right this little space capsule called earth

tax the fossil fuel emission costs they have so successfully and so improperly externalized

stop rewarding uncontrollable greed, blind ambition and absolute egocentrism

end huge bonuses for exporting jobs and pollution to slave-based economies

just quit letting it all come down to money in the end - every single goddamn time

reverse bad decisions even if they were made in private talks with one’s personal savior

just set the example for a greener world instead of whining about what others should do

tax the fat and the lazy just like the smokers, the drinkers and the gamblers

understand: you ain’t bustin out of this pigsty and flyin off to some half-baked heaven

realize that they’ll never compete to provide healthcare for the poor or the sick

just accept that there really aint a market-based solution to every single problem

treat keeping quiet as a virtue instead of generating noise with everything we do

tax all of the franchised religions at corporate rates to fund forgotten social programs

kick back at the credit moneychangers and stone the payday usurers into a docile submission

stop believing in fairytale eternal compound growth and embrace a sustainable steady state future