"One Earthling's View Of Heaven"
If you have been to space, my friend,
Viewed galaxies which have no end,
Looked down upon blue planet, Earth,
With inner-mind assessed its girth –Once you have been to space, my friend,
You’re changed, your road begins to bend,
For now you have a gift for us –
We put you there, “Drink ’till enough –Is taken in – when you descend,
We’ll gather ’round so you can bend
Our ears, and hearts, and lives until
Our broken empty hearts are filled –Then, when we’ve gone our separate ways,
You’ll find some way to spend your days,
Perhaps through your photography –
You’ll share your view and help us see.Or maybe you will raise a child;
Through evening stories shared a while,
Shape tiny minds to gentle be
With fragile Earth you’ve come to see.You cannot cease to share your view,
It’s fully mixed in what you do,
In words you say, your silence kept,
Your mussy hair from how you slept.My friend, when I was young like you,
The fad was “photographic school”;
A glut emerged; the pot o’er flowed –
These folks fanned out, seed farmer sowed.And now? Exploded! Look and see –
A photo-culture’s here – for need
These folks once had to say their piece,
In digital has found release.Relax – your fad? Environment;
“It’s useless...” (words of deep contempt
For powers which hold the purse-strings tight,
And careless folks with endless might).But wait – for those like you, well trained,
Like seeds now scattered – no restraint
Can stop their leaven in the bread –
They’ll rise with change before you’re dead.So frolic on the mountain paths;
Bike recklessly down mountains fast;
Skim waters in the canyons deep;
Run marathons with steady feet –For up above two campfires burn;
We choose – no “right” to one we earn –
’Round one they whine, “They screwed it up;
Poor me; poor us; we had it rough.”But all around the other fire,
We’ll sit, recall how we conspired
To live our lives despite such fluff;
Cried, “Go – press on – say not, ‘enough!’".And as that evening fire grows dim,
We’ll each look back at where we’ve been;
Perhaps we’ll say, “We did not win –
But what a human race it’s been –“They did not win without a fight;
We took them on, both left and right;
Run for their money – that we gave” –
And maybe even, “Planet saved.”Thanks Lord for this.
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