the messenger stood in front of the crowd and stretched out a scroll. she read aloud,
"the crisis is not over population. to be clear. earth enjoys to be populated. indeed earth is less populated than earth would like to be. that is, to be clear, part of the crisis.
"the crisis is also not humanity, as such. earth was -- and is!-- in general quite pleased about humanity. indeed earth has quite a bit less humanity than it would like.
"with less precision we can say, too, that humans," emphasizing the second syllable, "are not the crisis."
"i'm sorry," the messenger paused, rubbing her forehead. she held the scroll to her side and after several moments rambled freely...
"this whole thing... we are so sorry. we really didn't want it to come to this. and, listen, i am not asking you to make sense of your losses -- we love how precious your lives are to you! i just... ok..." she took a deep breath and began reading again.
"without a natural predator, humans have forgotten the interdependent nature of living. as a species -- not, that is, each of you--" she interrupted herself hoping to soften the next few lines, "you have come to expect what you term a 'good, long life.' and what you see as 'good' is toxic, meaningless at best. individualism, we cut you away."
tears pooled in her eyes, "humans, rarely alive more than a century, it is so hard for you to see your insignificance with your short lives. humans, with your very big buildings and complicated supply chains, it is so hard for you to see your importance.
"humans. you have been taken advantage of." words, labored through sniffles, "you have known that your attention is the sunlight of ideas and you have let poison take over your garden. you have been made in the image of a false god: greedy, self-interested, insatiable." words, bitterly spat out, "you have sought freedom in isolation and isolation is the reward of your own making."
nearly shouting through tears that she not lose her words altogether, "you see only what you do not have and for this we have taken from you what you need the most. you created the pandemic, we have only attached this message."
a deep breath, a sigh, a shutter, and then,
"oh humans," she gasped, throwing the scroll aside, "we don't know how we lost your trust. perhaps we should have been better stewards. maybe free will was a bad idea." she looked up and out to the crowd. "i don't expect this message has been a comfort." individuals shifted from foot to foot. the crowd swayed and churned like the ocean.
she sniffed, wiped her nose, and smiled gently, "like this, you look like the ocean."
the messenger and the scroll disappeared as suddenly as they appeared.
the crowd, swaying, was left behind to decide whether to continue as tear drops or as an ocean.
"the crisis is not over population. to be clear. earth enjoys to be populated. indeed earth is less populated than earth would like to be. that is, to be clear, part of the crisis.
"the crisis is also not humanity, as such. earth was -- and is!-- in general quite pleased about humanity. indeed earth has quite a bit less humanity than it would like.
"with less precision we can say, too, that humans," emphasizing the second syllable, "are not the crisis."
"i'm sorry," the messenger paused, rubbing her forehead. she held the scroll to her side and after several moments rambled freely...
"this whole thing... we are so sorry. we really didn't want it to come to this. and, listen, i am not asking you to make sense of your losses -- we love how precious your lives are to you! i just... ok..." she took a deep breath and began reading again.
"without a natural predator, humans have forgotten the interdependent nature of living. as a species -- not, that is, each of you--" she interrupted herself hoping to soften the next few lines, "you have come to expect what you term a 'good, long life.' and what you see as 'good' is toxic, meaningless at best. individualism, we cut you away."
tears pooled in her eyes, "humans, rarely alive more than a century, it is so hard for you to see your insignificance with your short lives. humans, with your very big buildings and complicated supply chains, it is so hard for you to see your importance.
"humans. you have been taken advantage of." words, labored through sniffles, "you have known that your attention is the sunlight of ideas and you have let poison take over your garden. you have been made in the image of a false god: greedy, self-interested, insatiable." words, bitterly spat out, "you have sought freedom in isolation and isolation is the reward of your own making."
nearly shouting through tears that she not lose her words altogether, "you see only what you do not have and for this we have taken from you what you need the most. you created the pandemic, we have only attached this message."
a deep breath, a sigh, a shutter, and then,
"oh humans," she gasped, throwing the scroll aside, "we don't know how we lost your trust. perhaps we should have been better stewards. maybe free will was a bad idea." she looked up and out to the crowd. "i don't expect this message has been a comfort." individuals shifted from foot to foot. the crowd swayed and churned like the ocean.
she sniffed, wiped her nose, and smiled gently, "like this, you look like the ocean."
the messenger and the scroll disappeared as suddenly as they appeared.
the crowd, swaying, was left behind to decide whether to continue as tear drops or as an ocean.
_________________
Day 1 #pandowrimo @adriennemareebrown Waht if we see COVID-19 as a sentient, even sacred, force... one that emerged to address an urgent crisis.
A) What is the crisis? Write a conversation between the virus and the crisis.
B) COVID-19 as diety; (show us the) prayers, rituals, libations, practices. @creationmyth
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