Image by Geoff Livingston via Flickr
by David Schaff
Guest Writer, Dandelion Salad
April 26, 2021
Before it’s time for me to retire for the night, I’d like to remind people of their strength. That is:
The capitalist elites don’t have poets with the wonder of their expressions.
They don’t have novelists who can inspire generations.
They don’t have performance artists who can shake you
out of your humdrum existence
and awaken you to new ways of perception.
They don’t have painters who can expose your soul to yourself.
They don’t have the sensitivity to understand what is displayed
by the humanity
exemplified
by the arts.
They cannot understand the sounds of nature:
the birds chirping, the waves gently caressing the shores,
the young animals at play.
They cannot understand music that this all displays.
They have no sense of the beauty of a sunset or a dance of joy every culture has to share.
And if they seek pleasure in all this life that surrounds them, they can only seek it
as something owned and not have the joy of knowing
it is not owned,
can never be owned
and can only be shared.
To the elite, art is an investment, nature is a possession.
They take away inspirational artworks from the community and leave only despair and sorrow in their wake,
only to possess the world as monetary value and not as inspiration for the existence of all of us on this planet.
They take what cannot be held, they possess what cannot be tied down.
They have no future.
That future is ours and has always been ours.
It can only be taken from us if we allow it to be taken. No amount of monetary wealth can do that.
Just remember that and you need not prove anything else to yourself or others.
Good night.
© David Schaff
From the archives:
Humans, Nature and the Illusion of Separateness, by Kenn Orphan
Chris Hedges and Mr. Fish: The Cultural Requirement For Revolution
Drew Dellinger: It’s 3:23 in the Morning
Boycott America! by Bruce Gagnon
Chris Hedges: Artists As Prophets
Lukomorye: Poets Pave the Road to the Golden Age by Gaither Stewart
Dandelion Salad 
Thank you. It is good to be reminded that we are part of creation, not owners of creation. Creativity abounds when we listen and observe!
Thanks for your comment, peacejusticelove. I certainly agree.
Thank you! We need to be reminded – the earth does not belong to us, we belong to the earth …
Glad you enjoyed the poem, SH.