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silwance

space program


from outer space you cannot see the fictions we trace

blisterin Earth’s topographies into geographies

of countries for the sake of economies

from outer space you cannot see the fictions we trace

conquest slicing scenery valley and prairie imploded, exploded,

regions claimed through thievery legions forced into slavery

forest, desert and rivers dammed, dissected, bisected

reflective of friction that makes only a few richer

from outer space you cannot see the fictions we trace

land and sea carved, claimed and maimed into partitions

walls and borders to protect the hoarders

keep out the foreigners

except for those governments like to torture

incarceration instead of reparation

the contradiction of land acknowledgment

without the abolishment of colonization

from outer space you cannot see the fictions we trace

buildin’ monuments to dominance

designatin n decimatin Earth’s continents

to serve our discontentment

from outer space you cannot see the fictions we trace

makin islands from plastics streams outta toxics

building mountains from cement

pavement spreading like missionaries

crucifying thirst quenching tributaries

from outer space you cannot see the fictions we trace

dismissin our own species as blight we practice apartheid

refugees and the unhoused sleeping on the bare ground

but the police state building their own Atlantis in Atlanta

from outer space you cannot see the fictions we trace on Earth and Earthlings

to free ourselves from the demolition our fictions cause the globe our vision must be

Earth is a shared biome yeah an undeniable apparition from outer space

but a connective perspective is under jurisdiction of our inner space

from inner space we can trace the similarity we have clarity despite disparities

if you wanna get scientific, every one of us, even the fungus among us,

is made of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen and phosphorus

the molecules of you, the molecules of me,

the molecules of all of us is cosmic dust, y’all

from inner space we can trace the face of the goddess in each of us

from the psychedelic chalice of the aurora borealis to the climbin clematis

from the whale, snail and swallowtail to the seal, eel, even lemon peel

from the grand canyon to the banyan trees—please don’t pretend our differences make us different.

from inner space we can trace

the lies that fly the flags,

the lies that draw the lines,

monopolizin Earth into arbitrary territories

from inner space we can trace the fictions,

the contradictions that make us forget

this dome is collective home no matter where you roam

no matter the chromosomes, each and every genome on Earth needin’

air that doesn’t choke us water that doesn’t croak us

soil that feeds us shelter that heals us

from inner space to outer space

we can taste our global need for community

we embrace each and every being’s divinity

and maybe finally

we’ll learn to trace Earth’s example of unity

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Your poem is really fantastic and fine-tuned to our weird and aching planetary reality.

It was fabulous to hear/see you recite it. Thanks!

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