Told you I would give some feedback on this deep poem last time - and now it's time. Your first inclination was on point. That nature works in some miraculous way - that is way beyond our limited comprehension. You mention the king of the Savannah carnivores - the lion who has stuck to its mostly fresh flesh diet for millions of years. Yet nature has possibly even more herbivores who mind their own business munching up the greens and usually travel in big groups. However, If you think plants have feelings, which scientifically may be the case - it then comes down to consciousness levels and that is another subject for another time. Unlike humans - fellow carnivore mammals and reptiles etc. do not torture their prey and it's not personal - at least in our human definition - as in mostly the young or old vulnerable creatures being the main target for hungry lions. I am a vegetarian since I was a teen to varying degrees. From full on vegan tried/failed three different times throughout my life, but because of my own needs physically and mentally and decisions/determinations of a loose hierarchy of consciousness levels, I have continued to eat birds and fish on occasion - having only stuck to Not eating mammals all these decades later. Everyone has their own journey as far as diet and life goes. My point being that the sensitivity expressed by the young kid at the end is how I myself felt when I was young and saw my first slaughter house factory farm documentary-nasty stuff. If people had to do the dirty work of killing, and preparing the animal to be cooked - instead of buying it neatly wrapped in the grocery store - at least half would become vegetarian. And as far killing insects (guilty), there is free will - and a pretty big religious group (millions) called the Jains in India try to avoid it. So like I stopped eating our cousins the mammals decades ago - and the Jains have avoided killing/eating insects for thousands of years - we do have freewill to make choices on what we do and consume everyday. Yet carnivores are often keystone species that keep big ecosystems in balance and thriving based on the yin/yang balance of the universe - as in perfect symmetries on the macro and micro levels - again way beyond our comprehension. How karma works is way beyond our comprehension as in lifetimes and the matrix like connections of everything from the beginning of time and space. We are one is true. Albeit somewhat dysfunctional on a human level. Humans are no longer in balance with nature - 8 billion and counting - no predator to keep our numbers in check anymore - we killed or tamed them all. Makes me think of the brilliant early 1980s film Koyaanisqatsi (link for trailer below) - I believe it is Hopi - for life out of balance. Finally, I end with the great Jewish Prophet Isaiah - from thousands of years ago, Bible 11:6-9 -
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
He was predicting the effects of the coming messiah on all creatures becoming more peaceful. But this is not realistic based on how nature has worked for billions of years. But it can still it can be true for humans and how we treat nature/each other since we are now the top of the food chain. As in respect and love for this great miracle of life and nature that has given us the mental gift to be able to truly appreciate/contemplate our place in the universe - beyond mere survival - while we are here for an eyeblink moment in time.
This is like a real slap in the face in a good way. Like, wake up! Don't gloss over the gore and pain of life. AND, don't belittle the big, deep empathy we humans can have and how powerful it can be. Thank you for exploring these ideas so honestly.
... Because you're strong enough to handle it , Kid. That's what it means to be human. You can be two places at once--- in your heart and in your head--- the way the lion and antelope and housefly were made, so were we, and you were made to witness and to handle it. You were made with that strength.
Just as your brother has demonstrated for us in this poem about you in the world.
With this you bring my daily struggle to the surface, Sherman. How can I ever be truly happy when there is so much suffering? So much suffering I can do nothing about and so much suffering I don’t even know about. Suffering that is happening in this very moment. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Yes, we humans can behave like the snakes and lions (and worse!), but also capable of such startling empathy. And the last line of this poem is what I’m grappling with especially now… thank you for sharing beauty and pain
Told you I would give some feedback on this deep poem last time - and now it's time. Your first inclination was on point. That nature works in some miraculous way - that is way beyond our limited comprehension. You mention the king of the Savannah carnivores - the lion who has stuck to its mostly fresh flesh diet for millions of years. Yet nature has possibly even more herbivores who mind their own business munching up the greens and usually travel in big groups. However, If you think plants have feelings, which scientifically may be the case - it then comes down to consciousness levels and that is another subject for another time. Unlike humans - fellow carnivore mammals and reptiles etc. do not torture their prey and it's not personal - at least in our human definition - as in mostly the young or old vulnerable creatures being the main target for hungry lions. I am a vegetarian since I was a teen to varying degrees. From full on vegan tried/failed three different times throughout my life, but because of my own needs physically and mentally and decisions/determinations of a loose hierarchy of consciousness levels, I have continued to eat birds and fish on occasion - having only stuck to Not eating mammals all these decades later. Everyone has their own journey as far as diet and life goes. My point being that the sensitivity expressed by the young kid at the end is how I myself felt when I was young and saw my first slaughter house factory farm documentary-nasty stuff. If people had to do the dirty work of killing, and preparing the animal to be cooked - instead of buying it neatly wrapped in the grocery store - at least half would become vegetarian. And as far killing insects (guilty), there is free will - and a pretty big religious group (millions) called the Jains in India try to avoid it. So like I stopped eating our cousins the mammals decades ago - and the Jains have avoided killing/eating insects for thousands of years - we do have freewill to make choices on what we do and consume everyday. Yet carnivores are often keystone species that keep big ecosystems in balance and thriving based on the yin/yang balance of the universe - as in perfect symmetries on the macro and micro levels - again way beyond our comprehension. How karma works is way beyond our comprehension as in lifetimes and the matrix like connections of everything from the beginning of time and space. We are one is true. Albeit somewhat dysfunctional on a human level. Humans are no longer in balance with nature - 8 billion and counting - no predator to keep our numbers in check anymore - we killed or tamed them all. Makes me think of the brilliant early 1980s film Koyaanisqatsi (link for trailer below) - I believe it is Hopi - for life out of balance. Finally, I end with the great Jewish Prophet Isaiah - from thousands of years ago, Bible 11:6-9 -
The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them.
He was predicting the effects of the coming messiah on all creatures becoming more peaceful. But this is not realistic based on how nature has worked for billions of years. But it can still it can be true for humans and how we treat nature/each other since we are now the top of the food chain. As in respect and love for this great miracle of life and nature that has given us the mental gift to be able to truly appreciate/contemplate our place in the universe - beyond mere survival - while we are here for an eyeblink moment in time.
https://youtu.be/tDW-1JIa2gI?si=XH7i2ZlO3Qto2lml
This is like a real slap in the face in a good way. Like, wake up! Don't gloss over the gore and pain of life. AND, don't belittle the big, deep empathy we humans can have and how powerful it can be. Thank you for exploring these ideas so honestly.
Again, the wonderful turn with "Ah, we humans." That's when the poem morphs from a National Geographic post to a metaphor about the human condition.
Choosing to care in a callous world is a daily act of moral courage
To be human. Thanks Sherman.
That’s the question. This is a testing ground.
Loving this:
And I sigh
at my silly
need
to wish
that lions
would sometimes
adopt the newborn
antelope
instead of
eating them.
XO TY
Endear,endure,inure…
Well that makes me cry. So painfully beautiful!
... Because you're strong enough to handle it , Kid. That's what it means to be human. You can be two places at once--- in your heart and in your head--- the way the lion and antelope and housefly were made, so were we, and you were made to witness and to handle it. You were made with that strength.
Just as your brother has demonstrated for us in this poem about you in the world.
This one flattened me with its truth.
Beautifully formulated and so painful is this question
With this you bring my daily struggle to the surface, Sherman. How can I ever be truly happy when there is so much suffering? So much suffering I can do nothing about and so much suffering I don’t even know about. Suffering that is happening in this very moment. Thank you for sharing this with us.
Oh, Sherman, that image of a newborn antelope is heartbreaking - thanks for taking me through a full arc (and ache) of feeling this morning 🙏🏽
Oh how true the little brother spoke. Gorgeous poem. How did you weave the poem around these very different animals?
Yes, we humans can behave like the snakes and lions (and worse!), but also capable of such startling empathy. And the last line of this poem is what I’m grappling with especially now… thank you for sharing beauty and pain