There was a Time
by Monica Perez Nevarez
There was a time,
my son,
when Mommy was able to work
at home, from her phone
see faraway friends,
read inspiring words,
and see breathtaking places
as well as breath-taken places;
electronic-built community
spanned the globe.
There was a time.
There was a time
when people remembered
clean rivers and fresh breezes
reaching for the brass ring.
Nobody cared, we trod a path
my son,
when Mommy was able to work
at home, from her phone
see faraway friends,
read inspiring words,
and see breathtaking places
as well as breath-taken places;
electronic-built community
spanned the globe.
There was a time.
There was a time
when people remembered
clean rivers and fresh breezes
flush with youth;
when businessmen sought service,
not profit;
when the poor were able to move
when businessmen sought service,
not profit;
when the poor were able to move
into homes that sheltered
education that catalyzed
and markets that lifted most
from the gutters of Victorian hypocrisy
and colonial hubris. There was a time.
There was a time
when compromises reigned,
when there was no right and wrong.
when lone voices spoke Truth
and the powerful scoffed; the rest
too comfortable or too busyand the powerful scoffed; the rest
reaching for the brass ring.
Nobody cared, we trod a path
of mutual destruction
with no available deterrence.
Compromises were compromised.
Compromises were compromised.
There was no more time.
There was a time
when all the things that fed us
broke down
began to oppress us.
It was a time of highs and lows
and we fought hard against the monied waves
that pulled us, swamped us, drowned us.
Decades passed
Earth’s physical limits
came and went,
the deadline for action was upon us;
It was time for right choices.
There was a time, the same time,
when all the things that fed us
broke down
began to oppress us.
It was a time of highs and lows
and we fought hard against the monied waves
that pulled us, swamped us, drowned us.
Decades passed
Earth’s physical limits
came and went,
the deadline for action was upon us;
It was time for right choices.
There was a time, the same time,
When the countries of the world
came together
to solve our problems, much talk
came together
to solve our problems, much talk
no action.
The science was there,
the will was not.
The science was there,
the will was not.
It got hot, real hot.
The people cried for respite
while eschewing personal responsibility,
they rejected dismantling their dreams.
There was no more time.
There was a time
when women of goodwill
realized that there was no security
in luxury.
That true security meant
sustainability and self-reliance;
it meant working hard, building community,
and learning interdependence.
It meant growing your own food
The people cried for respite
while eschewing personal responsibility,
they rejected dismantling their dreams.
There was no more time.
There was a time
when women of goodwill
realized that there was no security
in luxury.
That true security meant
sustainability and self-reliance;
it meant working hard, building community,
and learning interdependence.
It meant growing your own food
localizing your community the old-fashioned way -
in person, one by one.
It was a time for counter-intuitive choices.
There was a time
a moment, of parallel universes aligned:
Where living life in place,
valuing relationship over lucre,
home-grown over global,
self-discipline over slavery,
imagination over denial,
love over hate,
were the inescapable lessons Our Mother
was teaching us.
And some of us listened, and survived.
Give thanks, for there was a time.
It was a time for counter-intuitive choices.
There was a time
a moment, of parallel universes aligned:
Where living life in place,
valuing relationship over lucre,
home-grown over global,
self-discipline over slavery,
imagination over denial,
love over hate,
were the inescapable lessons Our Mother
was teaching us.
And some of us listened, and survived.
Give thanks, for there was a time.