Poetry Please is a series in which I attempt to create a visual accompaniment to poetry. This poem describes an imagined future where humans are long gone, but some animals remain as witnesses to a planet slowly recovering its ravaged systems.
It is quite a sad poem, but I feel like it conveys an important message.
In a future that is rapidly approaching - like I've said to many people before - I made a conscious decision long ago not to have children.
The reason is twofold:
I can't imagine bringing a child into a future full of wars over rapidly depleting resources. A fate that could have been avoided if humankind weren't so predatory (In modern terms you could call us predatory consumers - we dig up natural resources no matter how scarce they're becoming, farm every bit of arable land, we even consumed so much fish from the Mediterranean that it is now essentially a dead sea, which can't stain any decent fish stock, and so the list goes on) and at the top of this pyramid of carnage sit our governments/elites. The primary reason why we've not taken action as a species - before the point of metaphorical singularity has passed - leaving this planet a limited lifespan, especially if we keep acting as predatory consumers. I do not wish to bring a child into the world of tomorrow, I don't want to be passing on to another human being (potentially 80-100 years) the world they will be inheriting from yesteryear.
The other reason is that this planet we inhabit is vastly overpopulated by the most destructive creature that has evolved here. Also, I have a chronic illness and just don't have the energy or inclination to be a tired grumpy dad 😂
When you say things like that to parents, you tend to get this reproachful glance or outright verbal attack because their ego kicks in along with the natural instinct to protect their offspring. How dare you speak ill of my children (the ego mutters) how dare you call into question my right to have kids (the lizard brain whispers).
"You'd feel different if you had your own children."
"That is a bleak outlook, our future children will figure out a way to live well and sustainably."
Q: "How does your family feel about this?"
A: "I don't know, as is none of their business 👎 everyone has a right to choose their life's path, as long as they don't hurt others, give freely if they have a lot, and act kindly to their loved ones. Plus at least one random act of kindness/day. This is how I live my life for the most part."
These are the type of things I hear over and over again, and after a while it becomes extremely boring, as I'm not attacking anyone with my words, simply stating a choice I've made.
Lol, but I get it.
It is everyone's right to choose to have (or not have) children, there is no value judgement going on here... apart from one side, that of some of my friends who are parents. I never sit around telling them they shouldn't have had kids, or label them 'Breeders', that is the type of crap that creates only conflict.
Yet, I've heard the opposite spouted (very often by women against women) "You have no children... how sad."
NO, this is not at all sad, every person on this planet (apart from those who live under oppressive regimes) has the gift of choice, after all, isn't that what freedom is meant to be about? Not everyone has the same dreams and ambitions, and that is OK. I find the pressure heaped on women about this particular subject (or life choice) is one of the strongest indicators that we are still very much a patriarchal society, and it is hypocrisy at its worse.
Yet social convention dictates this norm or that norm, and before you know it you're conditioned to think a certain way, or to change your attitude/thoughts based upon the people you associate with.
But what is normality?
It's just a word. In the broader spectrum, it goes hand in hand with social convention.
Many people have broken through this type of societal conditioning. I believe I have, mainly through meditation practice and observing over the course of 40 years what judgement breeds when it festers in someone's soul.
Those who judge such meaningless things as choosing not to have children (which is not an irresponsible act in a world currently occupied by roughly eight billion humans) are usually looking for a scapegoat to take out their frustration upon... because they see that person doesn't have the responsibilities they have. I see this very much as an adult spitting the proverbial dummy out of the pram... sry for that awful pun, every now and then one sneaks through.
I love my friend's kids and have a wail of a time playing games with them, I'll even babysit upon occasion. But at the end of the day, I can say here you go my friend... have your child back when they turn up at 11-12 pm after going for a meal and a few drinks.
I'm happy to do this on occasion, but it always reinforces that I made the right decision for myself 🤣 I guess I'm going on something of a freewrite ramble here because I recently went to a festival where I saw someone who I'd not spoken to in over 7 years, and instead of catching up (even for a minute or two) she gave me a 2-second hug, said hello, and then turned back round check if her 3-year-old was Okay.
Anyway, I personally think that the only way we'll improve our chances to live in some type of harmony with the natural world, that sustains us, is by dropping the population of the planet, shifting our focus from raping the planet, and instead nurture it. With rapidly dwindling resources, fewer people mean fewer resources needed, which means less energy consumed, and less disease (as there wouldn't be as many people to carry infectious disease) and to top it all off there would be a slow change in attitude.
I say live and let live.
Have kids or don't have them, but if you come at me (as one of my friends did passive-aggressively having a go at me for my choices), then don't be surprised if you get hit with a truth bomb.
I'm not at all religious, but didn't Jesus say:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Source: Matthew 7:1-5 of the
Which sounds very similar to what the Buddha said:
"Do not be a judge of others, do not judge others. Those who judge others only harm themselves."
But enough of that armchair psychology stuff 😝
Poetry is the highlight of this blog and I created a short film with music to compliment the poem ⏫ which can be found at the top of this blog. As I said, the poem was inspired by a long bought of extreme anxiety/depression in my late twenties.
Thanks for reading/listening 🙂🌿
Sources:
All video clips were using creative commons film sourced from www.pexels.com video section.
I created a short film to music to go with the poetry reading, using creative commons clips sourced from www.pexels.com video section.
Music: https://www.free-stock-music.com/savfk-the-meaning-of-words.html
Title Image: https://pixabay.com/photos/st-crispins-asylum-hospital-2780087/
I would like to give a big shout-out to 
All images/footage used in this post are creative commons, sourced from pixabay.com or pixels.com, and the gif was ethically sourced from giphy.com. If you have enjoyed this poetry post, you can check out my other work on my homepage 
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