the hungry ghost

poem

forever wars and forever chemicals
because the hungry ghost forever hungry
because the hungry ghost can never be satisfied

so how do we the sane people —
of self-restraint and discipline,
respect and contentment and reciprocity—
deal with that entity ravaging this planet,
eating resources, eating Palestinians, eating Syrians,
eating Haitians, eating Ukrainians, eating Russians,
eating Original Peoples, eating Americans . . .
the list goes on . . . forever hungry

Tecumseh said, circa 1800,
"…once a happy race, since made miserable by the white people
who are never contented but always encroaching”

and nothing has changed, nothing has changed in that mindset,
whether white or whatever color,
because the hungry ghost has no mind,
the hungry ghost driven by voracious instinct,
you've been there before
when you couldn't stop drinking or eating or being obsessive-compulsive,
when you couldn’t stop drugging or sexing
until you realized too much of a good thing goes bad,
but the hungry ghost has no conscience,
no desire to stop, no motivation to stop,
fixated on one thing, the thing, whatever the thing is

and nothing has changed, not a thing,
just the upgrades, the updates, the downloads,
the shinier, the slicker, the faster,
the promised messiah who never arrives
yet billions bow down every day to his or her or their expected arrival,
the cart before the horse,
the goodies on the cart before the love of and caring for the horse,
you can lead the horse to water but the horse may or may not drink
if there’s lead or micro-plastics or Fukushima fallout in the water

forever wars and forever chemicals
because the hungry ghost forever hungry,
and because the hungry ghost can never be satisfied
there are no half-measures, there is no negotiating
with a crazed beast

Trudell said:
”We know the predator.
We see them feed on us.
We are aware, to starve the beast is our destiny”

yet how so with masses addicted,
and there’s no negotiating with a rabid dog,
there’s no negotiating with an alley cat in heat
on the hottest of a global warming August night,
no negotiating with the flash of teeth
from a shit-eating smile with pockets deep
as the vault of the Bank of International Settlements

so how do we the sane people deal with that entity
despoiling this beauteous, generous, nurturing, intelligent,
delicate, rugged, regenerating, mysterious Mother Earth,
that beast eating resources, eating human beings . . .

we the conscious people belong to soil and sweat
with the light of the sun putting a shine to that sweat,
but the hungry ghost never sweats because the hungry ghost
never worked a day in its vampiric life,
the hungry ghost never cherishes soil,
the hungry ghost never shines with the light of the sun,
shrouded in the shadows plotting the next episode,
the next prey,
the orchards of the Middle East,
the trees and buffalo and waters and minerals of Turtle Island,
the breathing of the Amazon rain-forest,
the trophy animals and underground veins of Africa,
the insane irony of the climate-changed Arctic
opening up the region for exploitation
fueling a greater environ-mental crisis,
the icebergs melting with tears in their once happy frozen eyes,
the untold species of Mother Earth
ravaged and raged by the hungry ghost,
forever hungry
tormented by relentless craving,
blocked from any nourishment

and above the hungry ghost’s bloated belly
the hungry ghost’s pinhole mouthpiece
the 24-7 talking heads,
the AI robotic messages,
infomania,
bet you can’t eat just one
text message,
one e-mail,
one social-media post,
one appetizer of breaking fake news

a mountain is forever if the hungry ghost don’t eat the scenic view,
the oceans forever if the thirsty ghost don’t drink them,
yours and mine and his and hers and their DNA is forever
if the hungry ghost don’t eat them,
our bloodstreams forever if the thirsty ghost don’t slurp them,
our souls forever if the hungry ghost don’t chomp them,
the light that shines from our eyes shines forever
if the hungry ghost can’t stare our eyes down
because Earth is forever,
Spirit forever
and the light of the soil and stars
shines through our eyes and hearts
and every pore and cell of our being is forever
if we remember
so the next generation can remember
and the next
forever remember
the way of being satisfied
with just enough

light and love shining from the dog’s soft brown eyes
as i rub his forehead
even though he will never read this rant
yet here we are standing
unlocked together in friendliness
for a few precious moments,
forever