Create Something

What the locust swarm has left the great locusts have eaten, what the great locusts have left, the young locusts have eaten:  What the young locusts have left the other locust have eaten.

                                                                                                                   The Bible, Joel 1

In a time of destruction, create something.

                                                                                                      Maxine Hong Kingston

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it seems at times

as if the forces of destruction are everywhere

the modern prophets

cry out

“it is a time of devastation

  be afraid, be very afraid”

there are enemies everywhere

moral decline is rampant

the economy is collapsing

“they” (whomever they are ) are going to come

and kill you in your beds

this is a time of decline

all is failing, drying up

the enemy is at the gate

doom

and we want to hide

or we want to hate

so we disappear

or we lash out in violence

dehumanizing others

marginalizing those weaker than our selves

stockpiling and carrying guns

we are on the edge

reactive

and the worst among us

the unprincipled and unscrupulous

feed on our fear for their own benefit

leading us like sheep into darker places

(see how easy it is to be a prophet of doom?)

and yet

this morning I look out into a world of beauty

a little buck, horns barely formed

his identity yet unclear, even to him

peeks out of tall grass, unconcerned, as I walk by

Iris glow neon yellow and deep purple

and birds, yellow, and red, vibrant and athletic

dart among the branches

the mountain still soars, snow capped into a sky

that is unbelievably blue

the sun shines

and there are things to do

a pile of bark dust awaits

needing to be spread among the herbs

a person sits, hurt and alone

wanting someone to talk to

there are many acts of healing

and kindness that can be done

there are pets to be petted

loved ones to be hugged

children to be loved and played with

there are songs to be written and sung

pictures to be painted

and photographs to be taken

there are poems to be written

in a time of darkness

we can be light

in a time of  destruction

there are acts of creation

that can be done

this day

at least this day

I will do something creative

and loving

and

good