"We must be the wind."

Gloria Steinem, at The Guardian

"The President can only hold a finger to the wind.
We must be the wind......
Real change, like a tree,
grows from the bottom up, not the top down."

Gloria Steinem, in The Guardian, after the election.
Words of strength and hope.

     *****     *****     *****

My response:

We must be the wind,
insisting upon the switch to wind and solar energy,
harnessing the clean sources of power
that will return our planet to health.

We must be the fire:
the fire of activism in hearts
that burn for freedom,
for justice, for racial equality.
We must burn down those walls of division and hatred,
reach out a hand and say: Welcome. You are Home.

We must be the voices
of the disenfranchised, the working poor,
the discouraged, those upon whose backs
the fat grow rich.
We, the people, can march, can raise our voices high,
to say corporate rule is killing us all,
and there is a better way.

We must speak for the animals,
who are  being abused and killed,
to fatten our waistlines.
We must speak for the oppressed,
that they may be freed,
vote with our pocketbooks,
shop local, and not fatten the coffers
of corporate power.

When will the rich
pay their fair share?
When will corporations clean up their mess,
and pay a carbon tax to offset their pollution?

If the President or Prime Minister holds up a finger
to gauge the direction of the wind,
let the wind of our many voices show him
the way we want to go.
And let us go there together for,
left or right,
we are more alike than we are different
and, left or right,
we all just want to live
as best we can.

It has been astonishing to me witnessing the hatred, racism, and virulence of this election. US people have asked me why I dare express my opinion. It's because what happens in the US directly impacts us in Canada and, in fact, countries around the world. If the US goes down, Canada goes down. (The same person considers Canada a Communist country, and asks if we want Sharia law; perhaps just a tad misinformed.)

I thought we lived in a democracy, where people are allowed to express an opinion and, while I may hold opposing views, out of respect I have remained fairly silent, other than to those I knew agreed with me.  There is little point engaging those whose ideology is so ingrained and fiercely held, they are unable to tolerate a differing view. I posted a PHOTOGRAPH of the Obamas, which incensed someone so intensely, she severed relations with our family. I observe. She has the right to her views, though she is misinformed on many counts, and accuses the Left of the exact same things we fear in the Right.

These words by Gloria Steinem offered a ray of hope today, and a way forward. What we are working for, so many of us, is far bigger than the Left or the Right - it is the survival of the Planet and all beings who live upon it. We must persevere, along with the brave people of Standing Rock, opposing that which does harm to the planet, opposing corporate interests which are responsible for so much of its wanton destruction and suffering.

Keep the faith, fellow pilgrims, as we soldier on.