Ravenously you look upon this world as a pirates chest,
Waiting to be plundered and pillaged.
Do you not see wrong in this?
The spoils are not for the powerful.
In fact–they are not spoils at all,
But gifts given for our momentary use!
These “things” we so desperately seek,
They are but tokens…nothing,
Objects of desire that cannot save us,
I am quite certain of this.
These lands in which we stake our flags,
The waters which we claim as ours,
The air with which we do as we please,
Polluting, damming, acid rain, smog,
Thieving, eminent domain,
None of this is ours to possess!
We do not hold dominion over this world,
By doing so we destroy these gifts.
We war in the name of possession;
Subjugating others for profit,
Excluding those that we deem unfit.
Who made us king, master, dictator?
Some may say God,
That He made us lord over his creation,
But I disagree.
Did God grant Adam and Eve property rights,
Ownership of His design for them to do with as they pleased,
Did He sanction the hoarding of food, water or any other means of sustenance,
Or did His plan instruct them to take just what they need?
Since He would provide all that was required, greed and gluttony should have been unthinkable,
Yet we managed to bastardize His plan.
We overindulge in sustenance and material things,
Collecting property as if it was ours to keep,
Threatening to slaughter those that trespass.
Taking all that exists in this world to share and claiming it as our own.
Cultures considered less civilized than ours still exist,
They don’t need a mortgage for the ground on which they sleep,
They don’t feel the need to claim possession of the air which they breath,
Nor feel the need to control the waters,
They just live,
Taking no more than they can carry,
Leaving no trace behind.
Is there not elegance in their simplicity?
We lost our way eons ago,
Our path overgrown with weeds.
Still there is hope,
Though unlikely in my lifetime,
That we may once again trample a path
Back to our divine design.
Living simply,
Trusting that there is enough for everyone,
Sharing with those in need;
Unrealistic perhaps,
But this is my dream.
.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
