Moral compass lost...

"The human species is driving itself full speed into an evolutionary dead-end. We are destroying the planet and everything we do kills animals. We have lost our moral compass. We think in terms of profit and power rather than ethics and compassion. We no longer have any reverence for life or any sense of connection with the natural world. We think we are made in the image of God and that God made everything for us. We see ourselves as conquerors of nature rather than citizens of a vast bio community. We are technologically sophisticated and morally retarded. We have no conception of the importance of nonhuman life forms in sustaining ecosystems. We fail to realize that what we do to the animals we do to ourselves. And all the while, we live in the fantasy land of entertainment and distractions whereby we focus more on the sex lives and surgical make-overs of movie stars than the greatest challenge our species has ever faced. I believe that [..] by promoting respect for nonhuman animals, we are advancing human moral evolution."

~ Dr Steve Best

a haunted poem...

This Ghost Insane
~ a poem by Joseph Beekman ~

I came upon,

a graveyard at dawn.

A new world?

Perhaps….

A lonely apparition approached,

gazed on us,

and gasped

Muttering a bloodshot word,

I asked, “What struck fear,

into one so lifeless and clear?”

It sat upon a stone,

sighed and groaned…

“You’re mistaken, you see…

I’m full of life and free!

Free to wander and probe,

alive to surprise and to know!

But you - you’re dead,

draped in flesh you’ll shed.

That wretched shrine that traps your soul,

that drains your dream,

chews it whole!

The thing I’m not,

but what within:

A released pocket of life -

A fleshless hymn!”

I sat amazed by one so crazed!

This ghost insane -

Believing it free,

undaunted by pain!

“Tell me spirit…

how can this be?

I, like you, will die -

No longer wild, no longer free…

But to travel back to the garden womb -

A finality to existence - ”

“ - Only to your flesh,

the spirit’s tomb!” roared the ghost.

“Yes, I was in your state of thought,

avoiding the dark reminders

of which way I’ll rot!

Yet, you will see -

Because like I was you,

you’ll be like me!

You’re soul will fly,

when the body does die…

Then you’ll be born -

Those, the dead you are now,

will remember and mourn!”

The spirit shifted its place -

Laughed at my silence,

The frown on my face…

“I was surprised to see,” the ghost resumed,

“the dead wandering this dawn -

So unaware of the thousands that await,

after the flesh is gone!”

I had to speak -

I had to express,

What haunts I’ve seen,

so like this guest…

“Oh, I’ve seen many of your kind!

Never without a tale,

riddle, or rhyme…

You’re trapped here by the urge to live -

Always struggling to forgive.

To find a reason for your demise -

A true horror, shock, and surprise!

Floating the earth,

from which came your birth -

A spirit dweller in the gardens;

The gardens of graveyard song…

Poking the molds of darkness,

seeking an answer to why you were wronged…

Am I right?”

The ghost sat silent in ponder -

Though I thought it wanting to wander.

Finally it spoke -

It’s voice a creak and a croak:

“One day you will see,

if you spoke the truth,

Or truly was I free!”

And spying a breeze arriving our way,

it took to leave -

Darkness falling,

to bury the light of day.

Copyright: Joseph Beekman, 1997

*first published at Dawn Hagan's Haunted Halloween Bash, October 3rd/2011 at:
http://dawn-hagan.blogspot.com/2011/10/haunted-halloween-bash-day-3-guest-post.html