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It Is A Good Time To Appreciate The Insects

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It Is A Good Time To Appreciate The Insects

Caitlin Johnstone
Sep 1, 2022
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It Is A Good Time To Appreciate The Insects

caitlinjohnstone.substack.com

Listen to a reading of this poem.

It is a good time to appreciate the insects
and functioning supply chains
and normal weather
and the fact that there are whales.

It is a good time to appreciate our loved ones
and tell people what they mean to us
and throw ourselves into romance with wild abandon
and be naked and vulnerable with someone who is gentle.

It is a good time to live in continuous appreciation
for the sun on our face
for the birdsongs in our ears
for a fresh cup of coffee
for a child's laugh
for a lover's touch
for electricity and clean water
for a visible sky
for breathable air
for arable land
for a living world.

It is a good time to cherish this orgy of terrestriality
with everything we've got
for however long it is with us
so that if the time comes to say goodbye
we can tuck it in lovingly and kiss it goodnight
like a tired little boy
after a long day's play.

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It Is A Good Time To Appreciate The Insects

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26 Comments
Vin LoPresti
Sep 1, 2022

Wonderful thoughts. You're so correct. I find myself grateful for and in admiration of the vibrant red, the familiar aroma and the sweet succulence of every strawberry. Especially because of the nagging feeling that I damn well better treasure them before they're no longer available.

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Marc Bédard Pelchat
Writes Flaws of Mankind
Sep 1, 2022

You know what? This resonates a lot with me. Last month I was sitting in the backyard next to a field. Things were grooving out there. I could hear thousands of sounds of things going on there. The idea that came to me was "there, there is an economy. The symbiosis IS an economy and whenever the symbiosis is not respected, it is not healthy. The field was obviously healthy of its own economy, in equilibrium which is exactly the contrary of what is going in the human economy where everything is unbalanced. Instead of listening to nature to get our cue as to how to function we think we know better. When things are not in equilibrium they collapse.

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