A Haiku for a friend who asked if I still write poetry

13 Responses to “A Haiku for a friend who asked if I still write poetry”

1. 

   cordsdamon August 6, 2021 at 5:49 am #

   Beautiful! Thank you.

   Reply
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     Richard Falk August 6, 2021 at 1:53 pm #

     dear Ca;udia: your tender words echo through the decades. Warmest greetings from
     Turkey. Hoping you are thriving in body and spirit! Fondly, Richard

     Reply
2. 

   Ruth Gala August 6, 2021 at 7:51 am #

   Beautiful…made my morning so much better. Thank you

   Reply
3. 

   Corinne Whitaker August 6, 2021 at 9:43 am #

   Giraffes have always married sunlight, from their perch closest to it!

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4. 

   Carlos August 6, 2021 at 8:11 pm #

   Lovely Richard.

   Reply
5. 

   Kata Fisher August 6, 2021 at 11:14 pm #

   Cracking the dawn and dusk The end of this report is just incredible. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_jmpu3TopHc

   Reply
6. 

   Andrew Gaines August 12, 2021 at 6:48 am #

   Hi Richard,
   I just read Global Solidarity: Toward a Politics of Impossibility. A poem:

   Spark the hidden hope that the world may come right

   Ideas
   like mushrooms in fairy rings
   pop up through unseen connections

   Sometimes politicians
   gaining high office
   mature

   Peasants
   develop local leaders

   The tides
   of Blessed Unrest
   like fireflies
   blinking in the night
   reach high and low

   and our time
   the time of our heart’s desire
   may yet come

   The Great Turning
   The Great Transition

   So persevere

   Spark the hidden hope
   that the world
   may come right

   That we may dance
   in fairy rings
   of our own making.

   Reply
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     Richard Falk August 12, 2021 at 10:00 pm #

     Andrew: a fine poetic rendering of the impossible as desirable becoming actual! Send your poem to Paul Raskin at the Tellus
     Institute with my blessings. Richard

     Reply
7. 

   andrewgaines August 12, 2021 at 6:54 am #

   However, if we are to be effective we need to go far beyond protest and aspiration. Those of us who care would do well to catalyze a movement for transformational change. Drawing on insights from Donella Meadows and Moshe Feldenkrais about catalyzing mindset change I have designed a support platform for such a movement: Inspiring Transition (https://inspiringtransition.net).

   Mindset change = helping people move from silo thinking to systems thinking, giving people tools to resolve their own emotional issues, and championing an overarching positive goal: transitioning to a life-affirming culture, rather than continuing on our present course of ecological self-destruction.

   Our model for taking it to scale this is to inspire the members of the millions of groups that care about environmental and social well-being to act as citizen-educators – and provide innovative communication tools to make them effective. Our Kitchen Table Conversations model uses labels on beer coasters to help people keep track of conversations about systemic change.

   We have a small international network, including senior members of the Climate Coaching Alliance. Climate scientist Michael Mann, who I met in Sydney, is on our advisory panel.
   The bottom line is this:

   Greta Thunberg will have reason to hope when she sees that mainstream society is committed to turning things around.

   I live in the Blue Mountains outside of Sydney. I would be pleased to have a Zoom conversation to compare notes. Might there be a time next week that would work for you?
   .

   Reply
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     Richard Falk August 12, 2021 at 10:08 pm #

     Andrew: Glad to have a conversation, impressed by your efforts. I assume you are referring to Sydney, Australia, which would
     require an adjustment to time zones as I am temporarily living in Turkey. My best email is Would Friday,
     August 20th at 6pm Turkish time work for you.

     Reply
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       andrewgaines August 12, 2021 at 11:25 pm #

       Hi Richard,
       7 am to 2 pm Turkish time is good for me (= 2 – 9 pm Sydney Australia) on Aug 20.

       It looks as though comments does not allow email addresses (yours does not show up). Please send me an email at andrewgaines [@] andrewgaines.net. I’m looking forward to talking with you!

       Andrew
     • 

       Richard Falk August 13, 2021 at 7:12 am #

       I will send a message confirming time and date, with my email address. I assume that this
       means you prefer WhatsApp. Richard
8. 

   Andrew Gaines August 14, 2021 at 12:27 am #

   Actually, Richard, I prefer Zoom. Looking forward! Andrew

   Reply