Love and Grit

Bob Marley

Douglas Tompkins

A poem in response to an article written by Charles Eisenstein and featured at https://www.filmsforaction.org/articles/why-the-climate-change-message-isnt-working/. The title of his piece is:

"Why the Climate Change Message Isn't Working

Threats of global catastrophe won’t move people to action. Only the heart can inspire zeal."

Love and grit,

courage and wit.

It's not either, or,

it's so much more.

We need to call on

wherewithals gone dormant, 

to summon up the will,

grist for the common mill.

It won't at all suffice

to be just kind and 'nice';

we need all our smarts,

and our craftiest arts

to face up to the fact:

There is no way back.

We're moving forward with drive

as we resiliently strive

for a world that is green,

not wicked and mean,

for a world that is fair,

with clean water, fresh air,

for all to partake in

whatever their stake in

the future that is now,

which ever ways we find how.

The stakes are high. As people, we have been manipulated and suppressed for too long by top-down elitist governments, institutions, corporations, powerful lobbies, and vested interests. As a consequence, we face a concomitant ecological, societal, systemic and climate crisis which threatens our very existence.

We need to come together and pool our common proud resources of respect, peaceability, mutual understanding, conflict-resolution, resilience, renewal, thereby transitioning to a more sustainable way of living and sharing this finite planet we all call home. We need to do this now, with increased vigour and urgency at all levels - in our homes, our communities, our tribes, towns, cities, states, regions, nations and biosphere - before this crisis reaches the tipping point of becoming irreversible. Let's get at it, from grassroots to mountain tops.