A Grounded Economy
This isn’t a call to action;
It’s an affirmation of the movement already afoot.
However aloof the real chain of responsibility and collective ethics may be in much of the business world..
A fleet of unlikely entrepreneurs, rebels, and hopeless dreamers finally have their say.
Speaking not through the common outlets,
Vocal without raising voice,
Speech delivered quietly.
Of rumblings from the deep valleys of the Driftless
Grinding muffled by the thick Birch and Spruce forests
Of the Upper Great Lakes
And windswept unfurling of the new hues upon the Midwestern prairielands
Beauty is no longer something to be coveted,
It is to be nurtured.
To serve a deeper longing that can’t be found on the silver screens
And backlit portals of a world without sleep
Living by season,
Of a life well-lived under every kind of sun, cloud and clime -
Precipitating a different sort of 21st century success story.
Sleeplessness
Giving way to a slumber of the wayward soul
Soaking deeply through every crevice and pore of the land
Breaking through concrete
Pouring out of every leaky window
In the 20-year-old suburban homes
We all knew would only last so long
Before our deeper desires broke through the paper-thin walls
Of a story we did not write the chapters of
Only to find a few missing pages
Which could be filled in
Upon the margins of a not-so-secret
Alternate Ending.
One that led us down the path
We always wanted to be on
A happy mistake of engineering.
Aren’t you curious if this breach in the fence
This, perhaps not-so-unexpected
Turn in the road
Might just be the only gap we get
To thread the eye of the needle
Firmly rooting ourselves
Upon the land that has always been underneath us
Beckoning at each breathy morning of the Spring thaw
To be carefully watched
As it opens a new field
Replete with the sweet scent of opportunity
To have a grand adventure here on a fraction of an acre
Or there on 160 and change
To transform ourselves
Just as the silty clay, sand, like your favorite lover
Yields to the gentle touch of a well-intended hand
To be reborn, reawakened
To the rejuvenation of all
We may find in our new eyes
Our open hearts and minds
A world where all belong, all are supported
By each other, by our governments
Businesses, institutions
And a living, breathing
Grounded economy
Where all life is not only preserved
It is enhanced
By the simple act
Of allowing our best senses forward
Appreciating what gives us life
And in turn
Allowing ourselves the grace
To live our deepest purpose
As the stewards of a new Earth
Beginning today
Resting when needed
Ebbing and flowing ~
With the natural rh.yth.ms
Of the collective body
Connected, reflective,
Directly serving the greater goodness
Which we can only achieve
With the love this Earth has shown us
And all she provides
Must we wait for her to further ask
For a caring hand >
Or will we take the so-obvious cues
And turn our restlessness
Into an upwelling of health, peace and joy
Known to our ancestors
And once again felt
On this beautiful gem we call home?