SHARED EARTH: Thoughts on Social Activism, Art, and Inertia

The forests have existed for millennia.
Who are we to destroy them now?

Where's the long-term profit
in poisoning oceans, air, and ground?

If life is treated as merchandise
everything becomes cheap,
and by consuming too much
there's less for other beings.

Why should we allow greed darken our hearts
or reduce our ability to see?

Remember our planet is a living jewel
shared by every being.


SETTING: Four friends attending a poetry reading in a pub in a mid-size city in Japan. 
After listening the previous short poem, whose author was sitting at the far corner of another
table, Andrei turns towards Jules and Soo.

Andrei:  (shaking his head vigorously, crumpling the poem) This is not a poem; it's mere ranting! 
         It's a second-rate polemic dressed up in line breaks. It’s far too didactic, 
         telling us nothing that we don't already know.

Jules:   (sighing, gesturing with a loose hand) I echo you. When folks preach, they become 
         like clumsy bulls roped to their agendas.

Soo:     (raising an eyebrow, stirring her coffee while tensing her facial muscles) So what? 
         Isn't the basic message—that the forests are dying—relevant enough to forgive 
         artistic ineptitude?

Jules:   (sitting up, leaning forward towards Soo) I disagree. Tom Robbins once expressed 
         this idea well: "When we accept bad art because it's good politics, we're killing 
         the swan to feed the chickens." Lousy art has no excuse because it fails to move 
         anyone. It’s merely disposable noise.

Phyrla:  (coughing lightly, folding her handkerchief carefully) Hmm. And even if these 
         words were better written, how often does poetry translate into action? Perhaps 
         we actually need to 'walk our talk' rather than spout off things we already know. 
         Our planet needs fewer poets and more doers.

Ellesha: (leaning forward in a low and measured voice) I hate to be pessimistic, but just 
         as addicts require a rock-bottom crises to shock their systems, I fear nothing 
         short of genuine, inescapable calamity will impel most of us to break our current 
         consumption habits.

Elijah:  Blah, blah, blah. (blowing his nose one last time, looking toward the window) 
         This conversation is a downer. Hey, is anyone up for another drink?


=====================================================================================
from _Let the waters be my witness: Messages about our watery world_ by T Newfields
SUMMARY:  An inquiry to eco-travesies, art, and poetry.
KEYWORDS:  environmental parodies, art critiques, eco-philippics

Begun: 1994 in Shizuoka, Japan / Finished: 2026 in Shizuoka, Japan
Creative Commons License: Attribution. {{CC-BY-4.0}} Granted
by T Newfields [Nitta Hirou / Huáng Yuèwǔ]

Disclosure: This piece was partially generated using AI tools for styling and ideation; 
            human editing was then applied.

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TRANSLATIONS

ESPAÑOL   https://www.tnewfields.info/es/retro-v.htm
NIHONGO   https://www.tnewfields.info/jp/retorobijon.htm
ZHŌNGWÉN  https://www.tnewfields.info/zh/fugushijue.htm