A pledge to nature
every day
Summer reaches her peak
branches sway
Dandelion clocks
spin their truth in time
while humming bee-song
breaks the silence
of nature’s rhyme
No reason here
…just is
Wild Spirits wait
Wake up
they cry
In forest deep
they’ve waited long
emerging now
from sleep
Wake up
they sing
too late
as silken silence
fell
the drum beat ceased
No more
the bird-song bell
A pause
A breath
before
life’s final
death knell
Summer is upon us, the hay harvest is early. Up here, the hills are mist veiled. The city, a little over an hour away, is showing summer temperatures 15 degrees warmer, when the norm used to be approx 6-7 degrees more than here.
Climate change is no myth and although there are varied and major factors to contend with, making it quite possibly beyond repair, there is still the evidence of forest and green vegetation pointing the way to holding off what is otherwise, sadly the inevitable.
Growing trees creates a cooler environment naturally. We are completely off grid but use no electrical cooling system, only open windows and doors and leafy foliage that shades our converted barn from heat in summer and gives us sunshine into the house on sunny, wintry days. Cost? Zero! Carbon footprint? Zero.
Some folk are made for city living, seeking out the dubious thrill, noise and the appearance of an abundance of choices for how to wile away the time, when not working in the proverbial, 9-5 tick-tock time.
Food and fashion fads prevail… influencers tell people how to look, think, speak, what to eat and be in the world and the latest gadget to buy to make them super-cool. Social media and related advertisers are dictating choices that will make us better, stronger, more desirable and invading our online social hours in the meantime, following and trolling our every move to see which ad they feel is appropriate for us. Even meditation apparently, can’t be done without the latest head set and app, when nature is right there to walk or sit in, to meditate and be at peace in, without contrived methods.
Too many are forgetting how to ‘simply be’ in the world.
Sometimes
the best we can do is be
Sometimes
when the world
of humankind collapses
into apparent insanity
trying to see with clarity
is an impossibility
Sometimes
retreat is a strength
because we feel we are
making no difference
merely adding to the mayhem
with our disbelief
that another can hold
such darkness inside
they can harm another soul
Sometimes
the best we can do is be
live a simple
uncomplicated existence
Become earthed and grounded
centred in the wilds of nature
where we see that
even nature isn’t kind
merely consequential
for not being alert
Be responsible
only for the self-actions
and self-thoughts
that lead to self-discovery
for another’s way
will not be changed
or understood
without seeing
through the same lens
Breath
look deeper
sense
with every filter of reason
Listen
to the silence
within and without
where noise
becomes a backdrop
holding all we need to know
…for sometimes
the best we can do is
simply be
and in being
become
at one
with all that is
Food has become a rude and sometimes, elitist business. Crazy fads and extortionate prices, trick people into seeking new flavours all the time, having them believe this is the cure-all for everything that ails humanity, when in truth all we need to do is eat less, include all the food groups appropriately, exercise moderately, depending on age and health issues.
We all need to eat but what goes on a plate as a serving of food is obscene, particularly when some can’t make ends meet and one meal would feed several… the rest, wasted; sent to landfill instead of becoming available to the needy or at the very least to green compost.
First Kale, then Chia, Quinoa and rare exotic berries, were the thing to keep one young and vibrant… dubbed superfoods; too much of some of them is toxic and how much of them is actually more than enough at one serving. Potatoes, and dairy are spurned… and now we find that kale has more tanic acid than rhubarb.
As lush as for instance, nut milk might be, it’s advisable to look at how it’s produced and the additives in many of them, not to mention the fact that if your really need nut milk, you can make it very easily yourself. Buyer beware… convenient, pre-cooked, overly processed foods are the worst for dodgy fillers, flavour enhancers and chemicals.
Then there are those of us who avoid the plastic glamour of it all to grow the city-folk’s food or simply our own to share, that then rapidly become not ‘in’ enough any more.
Farmers multi task crops and growing seasons to suit the latest fashion-food-faddery and have to ditch tons of fresh food that supermarkets reject because they’re a little out of shape or ‘nature kissed’ by heavy rains, frost or hail.
I grew up in the UK, where any fruit or veggies, bruised by the weather had the bruises cut off… good food was simply not wasted, particularly, post-war and was never a fashion fad.
We are conned into believing that because components are assembled to make solar powered grids that the manufacturing of those components is also green! Are the factories that make them fueled by solar and wind energy or straight off the overloaded existing coal/oil-fuelled grids.
Under what conditions are the Tesla EVs made, we need to ask, that is, if we can afford one in the first place. Take a look where your gadgets are made and where lithium comes from… ‘green washing’ is real and do you truly need a new phone or other such device, every year?
We blame creatures for methane output but barely look at our own toilet emissions, from billions of people globally (that far outnumber animal and bird droppings), steaming off in effluent treatment plants into the atmosphere. Then there’s our carbon footprint, our legacy for jetting or touring around the world seeking magical experiences forgetting to look at what is right in front of us, right here and now… NATURE… take notice!
I feel as if so many people are missing the point, running around trying to please everyone, ‘influence’ others to impress or make themselves feel better and the pressure is building as to what these ‘needs’ are doing in the way of manufacturing when too much ends up in landfill and worse… such as plastic pollution, found in the guts of fish, birds and other species… probably including, most of us.
She doesn’t need us but we’re homeless without her.
Her heart is silent
Soul-wings now frail
She heals the suffering of others
and in turn will ail
But she will find her way
to the edge of time
…hearing the night calls
following the rhyme
and rhythm of life
as it ebbs and flows
to the circle of stones
where the Magick knows
all the answers hidden
deep in her soul
She will find her way
to the edge of time
at the very cusp
of night and day
where the Crooked Path
leads her to her goal
deep within
to the edge of time
remembering
…knowing grows
illusion falls away
Her soul-light glows
…and how dare we be so fussy, when we have so much, in comparison to those living in a war-torn, starving and homeless world!
…so, wee rant over!
I have previously mentioned in a past post, my grandmother’s back garden and the shared spaces to grow food for the whole urban block she lived on… child care was free and the whole block knew where we all were, too and care of the ageing was a community thing. My nanna lived at home until she passed away as did her neighbours as they aged.
Will you change your ways and add to the movement for a sustainable and more community based lifestyle? Even in the city it’s a possibility with green community squares, rooftop gardens, shared and combined back yards to grow food and for children to play. Simply take down the fences between!
Walk softly… think twice and think again… Awen /|\
Penny
All Photography, art and words, ©️ Penny Reilly, all rights reserved.
Penny Reilly Artist Beyond the Gate 