Pick a place.<\/p>\n
Anywhere on this planet.<\/p>\n
You\u2019ll likely find chaos.<\/p>\n
Suffering. Pain. Cruelty.<\/p>\n
Oppression. Greed.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Humans can be a pretty despicable bunch.<\/p>\n
Have we even yet seen the extent of<\/p>\n
man\u2019s talent for debauchery?<\/p>\n
I fear not.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sometimes it\u2019s overwhelming.<\/p>\n
We wake up not knowing what atrocity<\/p>\n
will be the Breaking News this morning.<\/p>\n
Catastrophes. War. Disasters. Famine.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Some say it\u2019s always been this way;<\/p>\n
we just know more.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I disagree.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s always been evil, yes;<\/p>\n
but the creativity of man has led to<\/p>\n
ever more inventive methods of<\/p>\n
exploitation and abuse.<\/p>\n
We are a creative lot.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
But I have an antidote to the despair and misery,<\/p>\n
for those who need relief.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Nature.<\/p>\n
Find a forest<\/p>\n
or even a single beautiful, growing thing.<\/p>\n
Outside is best, but inside works, too.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Sit with it.<\/p>\n
Breathe it.<\/p>\n
Be with it.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
For while we humans often behave destructively,<\/p>\n
nature seldom does.<\/p>\n
And the hearts of good people<\/p>\n
can take only so much of witnessing profanity.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We need a solace.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Dr. Me prescribes sunshine, flowers,<\/p>\n
the wind playing in your hair,<\/p>\n
bare feet on good earth.<\/p>\n
Ice cream cones, clear water,<\/p>\n
walking in showers, playing in the sea,<\/p>\n
a brilliant red tree in a field of gloriously purple lavender.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The fresh new smell of fresh new babies:<\/p>\n
human, puppies, kittens, chicks, goats.<\/p>\n
Most any baby will work.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Remind yourself that this Earth still has beauty,<\/p>\n
still has goodness,<\/p>\n
still has joy.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You mustn\u2019t look only at the ugly things.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Save yourself from despair with Nature.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Pick a place. Anywhere on this planet. You\u2019ll likely find chaos. Suffering. Pain. Cruelty. Oppression. Greed. Humans can be a pretty despicable bunch. Have we even yet seen the extent of man\u2019s talent for debauchery? I fear not. Sometimes it\u2019s overwhelming. We wake…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1150,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-108983","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-half-marathon-poem"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108983","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1150"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=108983"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108983\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":109002,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108983\/revisions\/109002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=108983"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=108983"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepoetrymarathon.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=108983"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}