the big picture

my hopes for change should be drastically slimmed down.
not out of hostility, though,
or the fear or proceeding,
or marching orders handed my way.

look out our windows
there are
now billions
of us.

we need to get real about what
that really means, and how that
honestly modifies our outcomes.

and what is real?
real is the diameter of this tiny planet
in a sea of miniature stars
swimming ferociously to catch up with the current
of the ocean of swiftly stirring constellations
in one solitary galaxy
seething to rise up and be noticed
in the vast absolutely not emptiness
of this universe.

no more fights,
no more weapons drawn then.
we have limited time, finite scope, sparse resources.
we can babble all we want, but it does no use.
we’ll be swallowed up into this forgettable element stew
soon enough.

I don’t want to wage wars,
those strange crusades for protection of our turf,
any longer.
because I like the miracles we already have
the challenge to drift out of dreams into the beginning of day.
the nuclear sun that heats this hot blooded skin.
the calming effect of a simple ocean breeze.
the cheer that emanates from children playing.
the muscles around my lips that refuse to relax when a dog approaches.
the gravitational pull that makes the growth of trees a reality.
the billions of little grains of wheat that form into billions of loaves of bread.
the nurture of love that solves the mysteries of our origins.
the experiences that give me consciousness and emotional existence.

I guess the bigger picture really is
lost,
then,
unless we all string along with
aspirations of anything but the celebration
of this life.