Poetry – The Only Game In Town

Posted on by Opher

The Only Game In Town

Starting out on the fertile plains,

Stifling, holding us down,

Like smothering glue.

Spreading – like a pandemic – quickly,

Infecting the whole planet.

Robbing us of freedom,

Inoculating us with madness,

Imposing hierarchy,

Now too late for us to ban it.

With eight billion progeny

Enslaved within the enterprise

We laughingly call progress,

We are trapped.

Worshipping the diety

Entombed in the cathedral of the WTO,

From which there is no egress.

We can only observe with mounting sadness

As the machine devours

The very earth we stand upon

Trees and creatures

Transformed into worthless cash.

With nothing left to hand on.

In goes life

Out comes plastic

Concrete and sterility.

Transforming

Life to death

The opposite of fertility.

It’s the only game in town.

Opher – 7.11.2020

When we invented agriculture we had no idea what a mess we would be getting ourselves into. We did not realise we’d be inventing kings, religions, nations, wars and money. We thought we were making life easier and more secure.

We lost our relationship with nature, our place in the cycle. We lost harmony and hope. We gained toil, debt and bosses.

The tipping point is long past. There is no return. Eight billion people cannot live as we once lived. The machine is all-consuming.

When it has devoured the planet it will consume us.

Ron Forsythe – Science Fiction writer.

Posted on by Opher

I write Science Fiction under the pen name of Ron Forsythe.

Please visit my site and feed back your thoughts.

Thank you.

Home

Poetry – The Web

Posted on by Opher

The Web

An intricate, self-perpetuating web,

Expanding, mutating and evolving;

Interconnected, interdependent.

Full of mysteries for the solving.

Molecular complexity.

Ionic polarity.

Cellular electricity.

Spectacular diversity.

Coursing through veins,

Blood and energy,

Streaming down pathways.

Creating awareness endlessly.

Opher – 6.11.2020

I was going to call this poem life, but I thought that might detract.

I was thinking about the huge spectacular web of life that extends across the surface of this planet. It all started from one cell and now it has spawned a trillion forms and is still going.

I was thinking about our awareness, of all life’s awareness. Everything is conscious.

One day we will realise that plants and bacteria have consciousness.

What form that takes is open to wonder.

It’s full of mysteries.

Poetry – Sixteen Billion

Posted on by Opher

Sixteen Billion

Sixteen billion eyes,

Searching for a kill.

Sixteen billion feet

Looking for a meal.

Eight billion mouths

Eating from the grill.

Eight billion brains

Seeking out a thrill.

Eight billion hearts will soon become ten.

Even more room required to care for them.

Opher – 30.10.2020

The world is being swamped. Nowhere is inaccessible. We are clearing the forests, overfishing the seas.

Nature is in retreat.

We are eating everything that moves, spraying the fields and destroying the ecosystems that we depend on.

So many creatures are being driven out. There’s no room at the inn.

Poetry – Fifty-Three Years

Posted on by Opher

Fifty-Three Years

Fifty three years ago

A young lad pulled up outside a house.

It was mid-summer,

The warm sun still shone brightly in the evening.

He sat for a moment calming himself,

A fluttering in his belly,

A nervous heartbeat,

A sense of dread,

Yet also excitement, expectation and anticipation.

He took a breath,

Opened the door,

Climbed out and walked up the short drive.

All around the world was glowing,

New and confident,

Bright and welcoming,

Promising.

He rang the bell

And there you were;

Dressed in that short summer dress of very pale white and blue,

Long dark wavy hair falling across your shoulders and down your back.

A broad nervous smile, eyes glinting in the sun.

You grinned at me

And I grinned at you.

You closed the door and we set off.

Opher – 24.10.2020

I was on my daily walk, thinking back over these last fifty three years. I can still remember that first day.

The kindling we laid blazed and the fire still burns.

Poetry – On Holiday From Eternity

Posted on by Opher

On Holiday From Eternity

We’re all on holiday from eternity,

So give us a smile!

We’re just visiting for the duration,

For a short while!

Out of the blankness of nothingness

We awoke into the world.

We looked around for something;

The universe unfurled.

What a wonder to find yourself in!

An endless delight!

The splendour all around us

To make us feel alright.

The planet puts on room service

Everything we need!

Like a glutton at a party

We consume it all with greed.

We’re all on holiday from eternity,

So give us a smile!

We’re just visiting for the duration,

For a short while!

Opher – 22.10.2020

Nothingness is not dark, it’s not empty; it just doesn’t exist.

It’s where we came from. It’s where we’re going back to.

We visit it nightly.

There’s no sadness in non-existence, no need to mourn.

Yet here we are, waking from non-existence into a whole universe of wonder. We are here on holiday, for a short while. I aim to make the most of it.

Poetry – Private Property

Posted on by Opher

Private Property

Once there was a country

Nobody owned it.

No private property.

Someone put up fences.

Claimed it

Set up a defences.

Once there was just land.

Now it’s law –

People are banned.

It was the robber barons.

Seized it by force

With their cannons.

We still pay them for our land

As they get richer

And live life so grand.

Once there was a country

Nobody owned it.

No private property.

Opher – 19.10.2020

We’ve become so accustomed to the situation. But the land used to be as free as the air and water. It was seized by force.

It is now owned by a few. The Queen owns 1,960,000 acres. Where did she get it from? Who gave it to her?

When did the land become owned?

Poetry – Once

Posted on by Opher

Once

Once,

Just chance,

Making matter talk.

Once,

Pure fluke,

Making matter walk.

Awareness,

Consciousness,

Out of thin air.

Extravagance,

Outrageousness

Everywhere.

Exploding awareness

On a mad spiral ride.

Civilised stupidity

That cannot be denied.

We were arrogantly

Separated

From the cosmic thread.

Now we pay the price

For not using our head.

Once,

We were

All together.

Now,

Apart,

In hostile weather.

Opher – 17.10.2020

Out of inert matter chance unleashed thought, life blossomed. Just once. Just here. We were part of it. Breathing the same air. Sharing the same DNA. A marvel.

But we became separated, thought we were somehow different, that we were superior.

We destroyed the very thing we are part of, the web of wonder that gives us life.

Now we put ourselves in danger.

South Africa – Cape Town – More photos – penguins, storms, vocal groups, art and baboons.

Posted on by Opher

Going to the cape was amazing, the wind was so strong it nearly blew you off your feet. I loved the vocal groups singing on street corners, the art, the penguin colony and animals.

Poetry – Castles, Cathedrals, Banks and Facebook.

Posted on by Opher

Castles, Cathedrals, Banks and Facebook.

Castles and cathedrals –

Once so clear

Where the power lay.

Ramparts and spires

To reach up to the heavens.

Kings and Bishops

Gave way to bankers.

Mighty edifices

Towering into the sky,

Screaming power and wealth.

Now Internet giants

Wielding power to make or break,

Build their temples –

Impregnable and glassy,

Reflecting their glory.

Whoever these people may be

It is always our money used

To elevate themselves.

They peer down at us,

And reign over us.

Opher – 15.10.2020

I found it interesting walking around in Vigo Spain. The Cathedrals were beautiful and empty, the castle ramparts dilapidated, the banks had incredible facades with statues and art but were beginning to look grubby.

Once the castles and cathedrals held all the power. The Kings and Bishops vied for supremacy. The buildings were the symbols of their authority.

Now the King’s power has gone and the churches no longer hold sway over people.

The power moved to the banks. They accumulated vast wealth – sufficient to make or break nations.

But in the modern day even their wealth is small compared to that of Google, Amazon and Facebook – whose wealth and influence dwarves everyone. They influence elections and control our lives. Their headquarters are the modern-day cathedrals – screaming where the power lies.