Dear APOCALYPSE #19

Dear Apocalypse,

Of the people I ask - are you yet satisfied? Have you indulged your luxury enough so that your appetite is satiated of the frivolous contributions to the cup of anxiety held in the precious hands of mankind? It's running over now, are you watching with the rest of us?

Our hubris has left us at the mercy of biological, meteorological, political, sociological and completely avoidable judgments.
It didn't have to be this way.

You have looked on while the seasons have shifted more than a lunar cycle forward over the last 20 years.
Global warming? You cry - 'Conspiracy!', while only in the most hushed whispers you ponder the hardest evidence which we all bare witness to - the climb of excruciatingly hot temperatures, the stirring and rhythmic dissimulation of oceanic wind currents - the raging fires, the massive tsunamis.

You have allowed your government's globally to play in the sandbox and incentivise your allegiance of political designation with promises of financial gains.

Now as they act with the authority of our best interest - you are showing yourself to be more greed-filled than those who taught you these ways.
As your governments urge you to take extreme measures for the preservation of as much life as possible and set your money games aside - you are showing what you value by sitting back and placing the threat of financial destitution on the backs of those who built your empires and kingdoms.

You have turned your backs on your neighbors, thought only of yourself and your personal satisfactions.
You have discounted and discredited the value of life, love, peace, fulfillment and the brotherhood of mankind - until you were able to determine a way to brand it and turn it into profits for your pockets. You've slapped happiness on a meal replacement shake, fulfillment into tutorials, kindness into a way to achieve personal gratification - and only then were you ready to start talking about the utter importance of these things.
How I wish that statement spanned only the timeline from the birth of our current pandemic-crisis. The sad truth is it has gone on so long that your for-profit attempts at rediscovering the value in the core fibers of human purpose were brought to the table too little, and with the great misfortune of being possibly - too late.

You have hushed us, stomped over us, ignored us, forgotten us and left us behind. Us, who have struggled to maintain human purpose, maintain the focuses of energy, spirituality, karma, vibes, ethics - whatever you call upon. The mask may be different but underneath it's still the same humanity

It isn't too late to join us - to put forth first the utmost importance of preservation of life, of our earth and ultimately our humanity. I implore you to set aside your cash books, from the top to the bottom.

Of the people I ask - if we must face any Armageddon and risk any single life - can we not set aside our systems and man-made infrastructures of society long enough to remember who we once were?

Who we were when we still loved plants and trees dearly?
When we gave animals the same respect we gave our brothers and ourselves? Whether sustenance or companion we recognized the preciousness and revered the fragility of all life.
When we asked artist to create beauty and musicians to give a language to things that can not be said? When the poet shared truths and the writer gave permanence to things we should have never forgotten - things we intended never to forget.
When we looked after our tribes, and our tribes all looked after one another?
Before the first diversionary systems of religion stole our spirituality, before our first monarchy and dictatorship systems set out to steal the freedoms and liberties afforded to us by the gift of life itself?
Before we divided ourselves with the many separations of man-made constructs.

Dear Apocalypse -

We haven’t exactly met yet but, when we do - I hope that we will have remembered who we were. I hope we all allowed our selves to open up and really connect with each other, love each other, respect and invest fierce effort seamlessly across the face of civilization to protect, preserve and ultimately enrich human life. I hope before we are swallowed in the embers of your scorn and punishment, we can say we made our last days count. I hope that we can recall our nature as humans and not pieces of machine in time to distance ourselves from your impending arrival.

I hope we all remember soon, so that we can cherish for as long as we can all that we were given to care for and look after - all of each other. At least, then when you take us - we will have been together as we were always intended to be.

(written March 21st 2020)

Human
Dear APOCALYPSE #18

Dear Apocalypse,

Today, it flooded.
It flooded basements with rain falling up through pipes
Meant to take our waste away
There are locusts
And a plague
And fires worse than ever
Starvation amid seas of food
I watched a car float down the street past other cars,
And thought, “oh, so this is what Plagues are like;
The finger of G-d.”
But what if there is no reed sea?
I see this little flood that seems so big. I see these plagues and I feel small.
Humanity made it through plagues before, and we will again. We do seem to have an unfortunate convergence of events.
I just hope that the frog-rain is small and chirpy, not big and croaky.

(written March 21st 2020)

Human
Dear APOCALYPSE #17

Dear Apocalypse,

I trust that, at least the level that's immediately impacting me, the people in charge know what they're doing. My office begins work from home on Monday, the governor is slowly rolling out a closure of non-essential businesses, and my family is taking the precautions they need.

All in all, I'm not immensely concerned. I've felt a bit under the weather, but nothing major, just the result of getting rained on for 10 minutes straight yesterday. That was fixed by tea, food, and a bit of medicine.

I don't know where I'm going with this, aside from hoping that folks take care of themselves. Panic isn't helpful, apocalyptic hoarding isn't helpful. Take a breath, calm down. Everything will be okay.

(written March 20th 2020)

HumanComment
Dear APOCALYPSE #16

Last night I had a dream that I started an underground haircutting ring with my barber.

(written March 20th 2020)

HumanComment
Dear APOCALYPSE #15

Dear Apocalypse,

I’m worried about you. I worry you won’t survive in this delicate suffocating haze of calamitous humanity.

I went on a date today. A first date. Everything is closed, but we touched elbows and walked in the park, drinking booze from coffee mugs and passing all the places we might have ordinarily stopped.

Nothing is forever and nothing is forever.

Whenever I fuzz out under the weight of it all, I try to go for a walk, and pass all the places I might have ordinarily stopped.

Dear Apocalypse; not today.

(written March 18th 2020)

HumanComment
Dear APOCALYPSE #14

 I can't seem to focus on the things that need my attention.

My brain is fixated on trying to find the latest update on COVID-19 and all of the predictions of what's to come for the US. It's all I see online and the local television stations are interrupted with press conferences that I can't seem to not watch.

I check the DOH website everyday at 2PM to see the latest numbers and breakdown across counties in Ohio.

It reminds me of my behavior when 911 happened and I was glued to the coverage for weeks. Or, in 2003, when they televised the Iraq War, I didn't sleep for more than an hour or two at a time and I watched CNN around the clock.

What is wrong with me? This is not healthy.

I like to think that if I know all of the facts then I will be able to help when someone may need it. But, the truth is, it's paralyzing me.

(written March 18th 2020)

HumanComment
Dear APOCALYPSE #13

Dear APOCALYPSE,

You sit here
Like an uninvited guest
Taking space and filling time
In our homes
And in our hearts

But I hope you are ready
For we have been waiting
To dig deep into the depths
Of our humanity
To show you our spirit

Our coming together
As a global nation
Children of the world
We will spring
And we will defeat you

It’s not your time, dear APOCALYPSE.

(written March 18th 2020)

HumanComment
Dear APOCALYPSE #12

Dear Apocalypse,

The green of St. Paddy’s was blue
Restaurants served the fanciest meals on a to go
The pubs hadn’t a cue
The little café down the avenue made us single line - “oh no, after you”
The basketballs stopped bouncing
The fields; empty
I didn’t see a pitcher on a mound to spare
The arenas became silent
What has become of our year?

Wandering the halls of the offices, eerie
Rush hour must’ve happened quickly; I only saw a few!
The buses with more vacant seats than I can count in a 4 stop ride
The parks are dull, the slides missing the children outside
The sun doesn’t feel warm today
Something isn’t it’s usual way

Rush to the grocery
Survival necessities, it’s all we need
The remaining humans hurry to buy food
Each line longer than the next
Cashiers looking more tired than they should
Business owners smiling as they control the doors
The pharmacy shelves amazingly full
I worry, is this pandemic truly a health issue?

The Mayor and Prime Minister take the news
Borders are closing
Planes are being grounded
Cruises left at sea.
The world is crying
Death is gaining
Fear instilling
But there I am.....
There we are....
At home,with a cup of tea, or even two
Praying for everyone
And every country
There I am....
Home, safely with you.


S. Munchkins

(written March 17th 2020)

HumanComment
Dear APOCALYPSE #11

Dear Covid-19 AKA CoronaVirus

Please make America realize that our system is broken

(written March 21st 2020)

HumanComment