Photo by Matt Noble on Unsplash

The truth becomes clear

He wants us to keep working because he’s scared that when we’re still
we’ll find time to wash the pollution from our eyes.
If we look around ourselves we may be shocked to notice
that reality’s not at all like we were taught.
We might finally understand how much power we possess.
For the first time we could hear the tremor in their voices
when they promise to send us cheques and pay our rent.
It may occur to us to think, “Where does all this money come from?”
“Why couldn’t they alleviate the suffering before?”
We might count the people around us and see
we have the numbers to demand what’s right.
What if we realise the economy is not in charge
and life is much more simple than we thought?
All we need is food and air, water and some kind of home.
Heat and internet are nice, but constant growth is killing us.
Built-in obsolescence means the end of everything.
Already it’s becoming clear who gives value to our lives:
those who farm, heal and teach, deliver food and put out fires.
We assumed the machine could not be stopped
but the virus has shown us the truth.
Since the beginning, until the end, nothing matters more than life.