Yip, yip that's what it is

 

Fake Mink Rug is a weekly cartoon 'clog' by Duncan Hill It is funded entirely by donation. No donation is too small or large. Or its free if you are too broke at the moment. To get some more of these click on this link http://eepurl.com/CCq8T - its mega-easy to sign up

 For other stuff like essays and poems go to Kindness is the new Way blog: kindness is the new way www.hilldogg-visionary.blogspot.com 

Cultural Repair-bringing back the village

I've had lots of discussions of late, and have been thinking about the village and how we recognise our particular, what Mark Silver of The Heart of Business calls our  'jewel'.Your jewel is what you are, who you are and what you love to do. Its the prism of light that you reflect. It is also what others need and therefore basic to a very satisfying relationship with the world, as it encompasses the desire to belong, to connect with others, to have a sense of meaning, recognition and appreciation. It seems that in our culture, the modern urban 'Western' culture, it is no longer enough to be that person that everyone knows to go to for ............ Now you have to sell yourself, market yourself to an unknowing world, town or  community. To me its yet another sign of our spiritual poverty-we dont know who are the doctors, the healers, the bakers,the listeners, the person who understands animals, the literary experts and so on. Once I believe we knew who they all were; now we are lucky if we know our neighbours.
At one time I lived in the Cook Islands and there we found a place where everyone knew who everyone was and what their jewel was. It was a small island, limited by its sea boundary on all sides. Having a vehicle was of some advantage, but you lived in a confined space where everyone knew everyone. The local cop knew who the likely thief was who stole a bottle of gin from your kitchen. Pretty soon you saw him on the back of the policeman's motorbike, heading back to the station, a small office down near the reef, for questioning. You couldn't escape your community, even if you wanted to.
I know many people who are frustrated, lonely poor and unsatisfied because no one knows them and what they can offer. They may be doing some repetitive task for a crust,in our rest homes watching tv commercials or unemployed. They are probably you who are reading this, unless you are of the minority who work at the heart level and enjoy the fruits of doing what they love and are good at and meeting those who want hat service or thing. It appears to me that the industrialised society has paid a high price for convenience, efficiency, and material wealth.
I like to end my chats on a high note; what can be done, what is being done to change the status quo. I keep coming back to efforts to reclaim the village. The place where potentially, all people are held with respect. I think of the people I know who are engaging in what animal tracker and onetime native American apprentice Jon Young calls Cultural Repair. We will be forced to engage in this process-its this or death. And we want it so badly but have yet to be concious that we do. We still expect institutions to take up the values of the village. They are being crushed by the burden of the failed village, the burning village.
So let us start from today; reading this blog, making dinner, catching the train, wherever we are right now. What are you core values? What do you bring to the world? What do you love like nothing else-when time ceases for you at your task? We want to meet you. We need you.

Get a job and a haircut

I'm having fun with job interviews lately. I have this sense of power, focus and happiness which very little seems to diminish. So, I go for a job which is 'mentoring' young rangatahi (Maori youth). It is an excellent conversation- the two interviewing guys (working in HR which I'm guessing stands for Human Resources) in true and wonderful style tell me of themselves, where they are from, their family, tribal links etc and I reciprocate. They make me feel very welcome as  the Polynesian cultures do so well.
The job, ostensibly, is to hang around with young maori at a school and help get them through the NCEA hoops Level 1 2 and 3. I hadnt realised it was so tightly reined in, the application form stating that, among other options, school was to be considered. So I thought that it may be looking at the world and its myriad facets of 'education' and fitting the person in there or creating something with them.And I wasn't going to encourage them readily to go into the lion's mouth of Hunger Games High School. Quite excited was I at the prospect.  No, it turns out its very prescribed. Getting people to fit the system.
Over the weekend I had time to think, and I realised I didn't want the job- not working in a system which is failing not only Maori; a system which has not responded to the new climate of today. Anyway I was upfront about my reasons why I wouldn't be interested, and suggested I would be available for something which truly may have an impact.No thanks, came the reply; we are focussing on NCEA. Its disappointing in one sense, but I also felt jubilant. It's change in the making. Saying what we value and how we would like things to be. I contrast this to the me of yore-struggling to even identify what  I wanted and full of suppressed needs and desires.
The downside? 2 jobs I have rejected and the scraping by but excited by the prospects which lay before me.

Boys become men-a Rite of Passage

I just got back from a 'Rite of Passage' event where young men are initiated into the circle of men. No 21st yardglass, no meaningless key to the door that's long been opened, no first beer, no car accident and funeral-no 'self initiation' that is commonplace in this country and the 'civilised world' generally. No, we took boys gently through a loving, supported, but difficult experience that acknowledges their transition from the world of the boy to the world of men.
We acknowledge birth, birthdays that are important, marriage and death. We mark these transitions in rituals built up by our group-our culture.But we have forgotten how to bring girls and boys into the world of women and men. We must therefore journey it alone in confusion and 'hunger games' -like sacrifice to the gods of the marketplace. They show the way. For boys that way is the way of the eternal boy-exterior displays of power over others, bravery and machismo that are rarely felt within as true sources of power, Witness these on the internet and the news media. Uninitiated men look to uninitiated older men, who themselves are still boys, for guidance, reassurance and encouragement acknowledgement and acceptance. They find almost nothing and they become the vacuous spirits of today's men.
Contrast this to the full strata of men being present to the boys dreams, struggles and demons. Contrast this to the honest sharing of stories from the elders and the youngers, themselves ceremonied into the men's circle in earlier ceremonues. Men from 16 to their 70's taking them through a major and difficult mental, emotional and physical challenge that will push them to the limit; but not alone. They will be held in the arms of many fathers (usually with a ratio of 4 men to each boy). These men and boys are taken from their homes and families in ceremony and reality; taken to the place of men and mentored and then returned to the family, the community and the world.
This is no secret handshake ra ra ra funny hats stuff.
It was a moving, powerful, exhausting, exhilarating 5 days. it takes everyone to the edge of their comfort zone. I took a young man through with me-I stood in for his father who was not available. When I first wanted to take my son through this transition I sought knowledge from other cultures who still keep these rites alive. A friend was also looking for something for his son. I was relating our journey to a friend, when he said Oh you mean like Tracks? I said Tracks, whats that? That was the beginning of a connection with an organisation that has been doing these rites of passage for girls and boys for over 10 years. It came from the men's movement- groups of men who freely chose to enter into a hallowed space of shared experience, encouragement, belonging. When I first went with my son to his own rite of passage 5 years ago, my experience of meeting with men was limited, like many men, to the pub, the sports dressing room or clubroom-culturally acceptable ways men tried to get together. I had had some experience, through the Catholic church, of groups of men getting together, but it was always filtered through our shared Christianity and so missing some of the grime and reality of our patchy lives. And not fully concious of the value of men getting together.Or able to accept men regardless of beliefs.So it was with great relief, comfort, grief that I was able to be a part of a group who supported the boys through the transition. I felt great sadness both because of my own extremely poor transition and also for letting go of my son,I found other men with similar stories; some much worse and sadder. How we initiated ourselves then.
My life partner has just returned from a similar journey with our daughter
My hope and dream is realizing this vision for all our youth. It is part of my desire to reform the village with it's humanity and it's sanity!

Pink Transformer by Duncan Hill-a painting about aborted rites of passage and the aftermath
Oil on canvas (for sale POA)

Over the week you notice a change in the young man's way of  what I call 'standing in their own presence'-which is the best way I can describe a certain look in the eye which does not hide itself in the grass, a straightening of stature, a confidence in the voice. you notice a joy and peace that you normally associate with older men.
The organisation Tracks is open to applications to take boys through the Rite of Passage for men, as is its sister organisation, Tides. Check out www.tracks.net.nz 

Anzac Day; Lest We Forgot and we believe in war

Has it all been said about Anzac Day? No, I've got some more! I heard a Gallipoli vet talking about his experiences.He talked about a field of daisies that constituted a 100 yard dash across heavily machine gun protected open  space. In his words the first lot of 30 to 40 men ran and they 'dropped'; followed by the next lot who also 'dropped'. The  language was such that I at first thought he meant they ducked for cover. What he was saying was they were killed. So he witnessed 90 to 100 men crossing this flowerbed to their deaths in probably around a minute. My friend Lucy from England said that there have been studies made of the type of language used in war-I'm betting in any situation where the reality was too much to bear. You get words like 'dropped' and 'served' and 'fallen' and 'in a bit of trouble'and so on. All to make it bearable which I sort of understand; however a part of me says perhaps naively that if we called it what it is then we would be truly conscious of the reality and revisit our firmly held views on war.
I had an argument with my partner Alice on Anzac Day about the way I criticise the commemorations.She said the people remaining need a way to remember them. I acknowledge that.It is very important.But if that's the case how come we are just remembering soldiers who died? Are civilian women and children the 'Glorious Dead'?I keep chuckling cynically at the 'Glorious Dead'-and getting iry over it. There's nothing glorious about it.They were bloody blown to bits!
And its too easy to say they "gave their lives". Is it martyrdom or a murder/suicide pact?I say its a convulsion and a belief in violence as a means of solving problems of resources, land. I will stop when we stop using war as a legitimate solution to problems.When parents, when schools, when society believes force is the answer to solving problems, how can you expect anything different on a 'macro' level, between nations?
People I know people I respect; who are well informed,church going Christians speak of war as if it is an inevitable conclusion. That's what makes me mad.
And what is behind youth's newfound interest in Anzac Day? I do know that schools force their students to represent the school at such events. I'm guessing its seen as a patriotic event for the community and to not be there is the thing you don't want to be noticed for. On the positive side, I think curiosity, perhaps compassion, the desire to stand for something so missing from our youth also make it attractive.
I don't believe that Anzac Day actively glorifies war. Some of my friends do.To me though, it is a great opportunity to look at these deeper questions. It is big on sacrifice (so is the Taleban) and repeats the Christian paradigm of "I died for you" that Christians are in to. Guilt? We owe them?   We all chant "Never Again!"; the plainly dumb mantra of an ill- informed populous. What with Pol Pot in Cambodia, Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia and other genocides we clearly need to drop "never again" like a hot spud. Perhaps what we mean is "never again" for us.
I'm for revolution, I'm for evolution too. We need a revolution so that we fit our world and all its inhabitants. I'm talking beyond religion -the people based organisations- to actually mutual recognition of our place on the thin skin we call Earth. I'm talking learning a new language of mutuality-one that recognises we share hundreds of deep yearnings, a language which we share with every stone and every plant. I'd like to see it supplant our current language which is the language of domination developed by our minds, where we believe in war,and in my win equals your loss.

Do what you love-Not on your Nelly

Do what you love if you're rich. I did have the thought that the "do what you love" mantra is coming out of the Wealthy West. Do we want the people making our stuff for very little to do what they love? Not on your Nelly. Is this just another choice for the elite? Like diet fads.You only have diets where you have choice.The more choice, the more diet fads.
 A fairer world (which we all say we want) would necessarily involve a substantial decrease in our circumstances. Oh shit,.maybe we need to rethink that....... Now at the other end, I believe in doing what you love.it is intrinsic to being human, as I've said in an earlier blog.Its really really important. You feel better, that's why it's important.

DO THEY KNOW IT'S XMAS TIME AT ALL.-a poem on the big day

I'm in the house of my sister- in -law
Van Gogh is fading on- the- toilet- door
Tears of colour drip from my eyes
The glare of paper bled from Chinese palettes
Crumpled like its author before its time
Joy arises in me like death
White in the face
Christ is not at the front door
His fading plastic bones
The sucked chicken thigh
A world religion based on guys
Mark on barby on unhunted meat
Silence in the lounge from the over-eat
Catches us for a moment
Whose mouth will be the first to blink?
Auntie Christine is sleeping satisfied upright, hands clasped

We have decided to admire the trifle and pretend presents mean nothing

The endless coming of Christ

Hope without end amen

My consumer confidence returns with each thought of the poor;
"DO THEY KNOW IT'S XMAS TIME AT ALL????!!!!" for the poor blacks
"DO WE KNOW ITS RAMADAM TIME AT ALL????!!!!" for the poor whites
"WHEN THE BARON CRIED OUT " MERRY XMAS MY FRIEND!!!"
You can have fun during war
Let us pray for the Buddhists and Muslims
Lord hear us

No one wants to know about bullying

Everyone is perhaps too busy implementing 'programmes' to have time to learn about the cause of bullying.
The stark reality that our institutions are bolstering a cultural belief in 'get want you want by force', replicating a belief that goes from the bottom to the top of our triangle structure of every institution of society, including most families and most if not all schools- the powerless at the bottom and the powerful at the top. It occurs to me that children have no power; power in a real sense of ability to call into their lives a sense of direction, autonomous freedom to make choices, the ability to protect themselves against assault physically emotionally or sexually.Some cultures which have a top heavy structure are particularly ingrained in abuse. Polynesian cultures divest considerable power in the top and can reign absolutely over their societies. Churches used to exercise similar privelages and therefore abuses.Many still do. They all attract those leaders who do not experience themselves as powerful and who are magnetised into getting their  needs met at others' expense.
The children who find themselves in these organisations are repressed and suppressed by machinations of torn loyalty, secret 'don't tell' pacts, fear of reprisal, shame and guilt-most of which are not innate but created at birth and nurtured through messages overt and subtle as they grow up.Abused children have no union, no support network, no value enshrined in law. They aren't as well protected as pets-the organisations that look after animals are not snowed under by over  20,000 cases a year (current stats of reported abuse in NZ)
They belong to a toxic organisation called the family, which guarantees secrecy from prying eyes and anyone who might care.
We want to make noises because we feel bad about it happening. But we aren't going to examine our means of support, our jobs, our professions. I understand this process- why would you look at something that might mean change or even redundancy? This is a self preserving aspect of human society.

We need honesty and courage to face some realities- such as it's us that have built the bullying platform where this behavior thrives.We don't need punishment, we need change.

I can well remember my time in the staffroom discussing an oft picked -on student. " Well he has got a mouth on him/her".was the refrain. That's why they got picked on- because they gave someone cheek. In my observations, the bullied child tries to defend themselves, and why wouldn't they? Do we expect to be assaulted or worse, excluded, and be silent? This is not a dispute  and everyone knows it. These children are ritually put through suffering at the hands of their antagonists.
As yet I've had no replies to my requests to talk with either the Manawatu Standard or The Children's Commissioner (see my last post).They have received my letters and acknowledged that and told me they would get back to me.I'm skeptical but hopeful they will kia kaha.

Post script: I apologise to those children in my care that I didn't back them enough and go into a blind rage or publicly resign on that staffroom conversation alone. I apologise to the students I witnessed being bullied at school when I was growing up, and who didn't get my support (except weakly).

Communicating betterer; beginning a language of life

I had an unfortunate conversation with my neighbour  over a period of the last 2 days. Their stock animals have been grazing on our land in full view of their house. Over the years I have noted that they never take them off until we complain. So I communicate this and the reasons why we need the grass; or alternatively if we want to share or enter into some kind of arrangement,then lets do so.At the moment its a bit one-sided.
This is a typical farm neighbour situation-trouble over the fencing of stock. The neighbour is so aggressive I have chosen to put notes in the mailbox-a point which I expressed some regret and hope that we could be able to at least talk in the future.
I get a letter back which begins with "You're a liar!" and ends with"So shut up!" It is full of past resentments (the neighbour unsurprisingly has cancer), judgements,  defensiveness. I don't want to go into the details of it; it isn't my point.
I'm disappointed at the way that  we as a culture communicate.I have, in the last 2 and a half years been involved in overhauling my own language, and adopting a new one. Like many old habits, they can be hard to break. The new way cuts out judgement, criticism, put downs etc, and instead asks one to look at feelings and the underlying needs, wants and values that aren't being met. It goes further, to asking oneself and others for something which might help fulfill that need, value or want. The languages intention is to connect with others in a real, deep and human way.
This 'language of life' asserts that negative feelings (such as fear, guilt, anger etc) arise from unmet parts of our lives.And on the other hand, positive feelings(such as joy, peace and excitement) arise from these 'needs' being met.
It is profound and it works. It doesn't work in the currently popular means of getting your needs met at the expense of others- the tough love approach pervading our parenting meetings and schools. The fallout from that is silent resentment, depression, acting out of fear, shame or guilt. It has an unsatisfied party in the conversation.It breaks down connection between people. It also teaches bullying behaviour ie the getting ones demands met by coercion, creating fear and using force. You can see the results of this on the world stage as a country awakes, angry, and rids itself of a dictator.Rather it assumes the worth of the people involved in communicating. It assumes that getting what you want doesn't mean that the other doesn't get what they want.
I'm a fan.Its creator says it embodies spiritual values most of us subscribe to: loving your neighbour as yourself, peace, trust, compassion and so on They always struck me as great words, but how to put them into action-how to 'do' love- was missing. Also I'm programmed to start blaming, judging, criticising,comparing and that's hard to shift.I was bought up with it at home, school and the greater world.
I have successfully used this new language in the classroom, at home and with my family and friends. Dont worry, I still sound like me-you won't need an interpreter. But you and I may feel quite different during and at the end of our conversation.
This isnt an advertorial, but if you want to look at it more there are ways to learn it. Have a look at www.NVC.org.nz

Iceland is thawing; we are freezing

Ok, I went to hear this guy from Norway Hordur Torfason who was right at the epicentre of Iceland's 2008 "Cutlery Revolution". We went to get ideas about how to react when our own country faces such a crisis. We went to a special private meeting at the Art Museum Hotel which was pretty brief -it wasnt a good place to meet and the Hotel staff politely moved us on. And then to a public talk at the Paramount where about 500 people gathered  to hear the man.He is a very effective speaker and a man on a serious mission-to tell the world about the possibilities of change,the potential of simple human contact.
 It occurred to me that we will have to wait till something really critcal happens here as it did in Iceland-the banks were closed-the country was bankrupt-before we see the changes they have witnessed there. We are still at the stage where life goes on as usual for a significant part of the population; we can still deny these underground seismic shifts.Some clearly cant-there are thousands of people out there in NZ desperate and poor.As someone remarked in a restaurant later "Its just not us".
So any day now that 'event' will come,and surely so will anger and fear and then we will rally and throw them out and create a more fair economic system which will include making the creation of money a government task (instead of bank loan officers as is the present),an overhaul of the banking system,the eradication of interest on loans.I'm really clear on not vilifying the powermongers-we need to recreate our institutions so that they serve us, that's all. This horrible way of doing things in our working lives,the excitement of consumption, the ruthless, competitive and dominating paradigm which infects our schools,religions,families communities and workplace  needs to give way to the enjoyment of meaningful  work,prosperity,participation (in work recreation,decision making, community) respect for our planet which sustains us,the value of a future for all the inhabitants of earth, not just humans.

Give me a "Yo!"

So here we are.Like every one of our ancestors,at a pivotal point in history! Caught in a meaningless world,the old one still hanging on by fingernails.The meaningful are struggling and not getting paid.The meaningful cant get paid for what they do,while the meaningless get paid.
Ronald McDonald is at my 8 year old sons' tryathlon today and doing his show.I hold nothing against this fellow in his red and yellow.I'm pretty sure he would impress apon me the integrity of his job.He didn't appear jaded by it,despite my searching for it in him.But I did feel a shiver of fear at his alien hair and his too happy songs and I'm not sure why he frightens me. I imagined him with a bible or getting really pissed off with the kids not following his "yo!" and his "yay!" and saying "and now its time to die!" That's my fertile imagination-but its also a real perception of the whole dam sham that we prop up with every bit of our dwindling energy. We look around and every body else is waving too;its ok after all. 'They' are going to save us,after all.
I did have a meaningful day yesterday.I spent it killing 2 roosters,dressing them (or should I say undressing),building a new fireplace away from the old one which is prone to flooding in winter; cooking the chicken slowly over the fire,and making a hearty soup from vegetables and herbs in our garden,including a massive parsnip I found.And finally eating it beside the fire. That was about all I did ,but it took all day,on and off.I slept well..If I had grabbed a couple of Big Macs I could have had time to do something else.

Westpac theft: the real story

Funny story 1.Guy and girl find $10 million accidentally in Westpac bank account.Couple jumps on plane to Aussies and beyond, Eventually get caught and given a conviction and sentence (over 4 years for the guy).Some public outcry over the lenient sentences for 'theft'.
Funny story 2: Bank gets deposit from Joe and Josie Public.Bank lends out 20 times the amount and in effect and in reality creates money out of thin air.The amount of money is increased and it's inflationary,as it doesn't stand for anything.People are in catchup mode and the environment must be pillaged to account for the the discrepancy.Worse,the interest on the loan means its even more to add to the money supply,and everyone is forced to 'grow' to keep up.
No one goes to jail.No one gets accused of 'theft'
Funny story 3: Huge NZ company pays no tax by hiding money overseas and making an impossible paper trail to cover their tracks.The country has lost hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue and this loss is borne by every citizen.Company director receives public recognition for making a big business and employing alot of people.No one is accused of or charged for 'theft'.
If you want to understand how this can be, check out Positivemoney.org.nz or read Dierdre Kent's book Healthy Money,Healthy Planet or if you're more audio listen to this podcast interview on Radio NZ Kim Hill's programme.
http://podcast.radionz.co.nz/sat/sat-20111112-0810-raf_manji_money_and_the_economy-048.mp3

Voting for change.My experience in standing for a local electricity company board

I had a go at nominating nyself for the board of  a locally owned power company,Electra.I was quite pleased to get 1450 votes-out of a total of around 10,000 votes spread over 6 candidates.That equates to around 24%-a typical voter turnout at local body and even general elections.Thank you for believing in my voice.
I'm pretty sure that the people who dont vote are the ones who do worst out of the status quo-they believe in their powerlessness.And I'd be equally sure that the people who do vote have alot invested in the way things are now.Power depends on maintaining this system.I have a friend who supports everything in this culture that denigrates him;hes one of the biggest fans of the competitive,agressive economic model that we take for given.Its astounding to me.but I am so grateful for the fact that he has shown me insights into how it could be possible.He merely thinks hes not up to the job of full participation in our community,but 'they' are. They being someone elso who is able,brainy,responsible, clever, creative,knowledgeable, powerful. All the things he thinks hes not.
Anyway,sadder still (I dont want to harp on) is that a local identity famous for battling the mayor and councillors on a variety of issues,has said that I shouldnt have put 'poet' on my nomination form! Wak! So the implication is people wont vote for poets because........they are going to be flaky and idealistic and poorly organised and probably smoke weed and..............

Well, we are coming to the end of an era where our inflated view of bean counters,Bigmen (guys that have their values born of the current economic system and are mean, competitive and adversarial as a result,not afraid to be 'assertive' to get things done,good speakers,duplicitous in terms of saying one thing and doing another- things we associate with 'leadership' and 'business')are the very guys who got us in trouble. They do not  have the answers to an evolving society where new demands for power sharing,economically tenable,diverse,meaning- filled existence are being made.

 I say bring on the poets, the musicians, the fencers,the bakers,the healers,the labourers, the right brainers. Holy crap,these are exactly the people we want leading in the new age approaching us.

Footnote:We need the accountants,the list makers,the Bigmen for public speaking.We just need some other people as well,people who have experience in a wide range of fields,not just business.

SAY PLEASE!

Say please!
The other day I realised that I had left my bag in the staffroom so I went back to get it and seeing that my seat was taken and I couldn't get my bag myself,asked in a polite voice "Could you pass me my bag?" I couldn't believe my ears when the woman sitting next to it said "Say please!" and the person next to her said "whats the magic word?". I said "I asked you politely" feeling shock and indignation at the request.
My partner informs me that 'please' comes from 'plea' which means to beg. I also have been at a shop with my children where the woman wouldn't serve my children  and berated them for not saying please.I told her that it was a transaction, and while recognising it as a cultural form of politeness, it was no indicator of rudeness if one didn't say it.Moreover, in the second scenario the shopkeeper clearly did not understand that a transaction was taking place ie money (and her livelihood) for an ice cream.If anyone needs to beg then it should be the shopkeeper.
Its one thing for saying please -and indeed 'thank you'- to be a cultural habit, and another for it to be a mandatory request which if not given the goods or services are withheld.
In the Cook Islands and many Polynesian cultures no one says please or thank you-they are mystifyed by its use as to them taking and enjoying the food or whatever is thanks.I believe in New York when ordering food one says "I'll have.........".  No 'please' demands.
Postscript: Scenario: I rudely reached right over them and grabbed my bag.

Can you feel it?

This thing we are witnessing-the collapse of the old paradigm-I have been aware of for decades.My time is here,what I (and many others) have been saying is no longer cause for sniggering.Heres a poem I wrote a few years back.


We're building a boat


We're building a boat

Hull hard as bone

Supple as sinew and flexible as history

You need that on the high seas and low latitudes

Able to carry cargo and swarthy crew

Repositories of synthesized human wisdom carefully stowed;

Inventory

1. The last seeds

2. Boxes of old bones

3. Single celled organisms two by two

4. The things you might need; Novels that are a good read

  

Chandlery

Sails we’re stitching from quilts of pure energy

And invention and imagination

To blow patterns of energy on her billow-

Adaptable and flexible and modest are the sails

The rudder is sturdy and reliable as a hand

Calloused from hauling on sheets and working the land

Yet persistant and gentle, keeping the faith they were

Finger pointing to who knows where

On its bowsprit a fine carving

Of every face of every human and animal and plant

The mast we’re fashioning as straight and true as our intention

To carry this journey through

On the deck lies embedded

A diamond cosmic compass

Dial and bezel read the stars, the spirit world, reason, gaia, nature, intuition, sound, maritime maps, feeling

We threaded charts with glass beads and shells

From nearly worn out texts and scrolls and computer printouts

Singing sea shantys all the while

Laughter to get you through the doldrums

     All to lead us past the reefs of fallen warriors, women, children, civilisations

     All to weather the storms of human creation

The anchor we’re forging from human tenacity

It is heavy iron to wait out the strong tides that pull 

Or hide from the storm in the bay

Or weigh at that island of the mind where you rest and take on provisions and  crew

 R and R we think important too

     Were building a boat

     She’s almost afloat

     We’re signing up crew

     Hope its you

I heard a woman from Israel saying that in her country people are getting together.Now in my country thats hard,but in her racially,religiously divided country where people are raised to be pitted against one another,its a miracle.The reason? They realised what they all wanted was:a house, clean water,good food, a village to belong to,some inclusion and activity which was meaningful.That doesn't matter if you are Muslim or Christian,Arab or Jew.That's the new thing that's happening.its not a protest for change,it is change.