Gluttony

We over fish

We over eat

We over drink

In reality

We’re gluttons

We over build

We over spend

We over dig

In reality

I’m over it

We over exploit

We over explore

We over extinct

In reality

We’re thoughtless

We over work

We over pay

We over complain

In reality

I’m over it

We over travel

We over talk

We over avoid

In reality

We’re stressed

We over compensate

We over holiday

We over party

In reality

I’m over it

We over see

We over view

We over write

In reality

We’re all affected

We over hear

We over gossip

We over listen

In reality

I’m over it

©Peter Bean

Work Is An Idol

When work consumes us

Taking time away from

Living and relating

As we sacrifice

Ourselves, our time,

Our loved ones

To please the boss

The corporation,

Keep the economy

Ticking over

Air-conditioner humming

Monitoring screen and I-pad

An idol rises

Demanding sacrifice

And that is you

Your being

Your sense of self

Your love of life

All disappear

Into the vast economy

Of modern society

That does not tolerate

Individual taste or

Individual desire

To live as a human being

Rather than a robot

Of the system

Can we, can I

Reclaim the dignity

The sense of self

That balance allows

And cultivates

In a humane

Just, integral,

Valuing and valuable

Society?

©Peter Bean

The Night Invites

(thanks Lawrence S Cunningham, 28)

The night

When allowed to be night

Dark and mysterious

Quiet and calm

Starry and interrupted

Allows

For thought patterns

To be disturbed

And reality

To creep in

And then

Those who are

Part of the night

Can be invited

To illuminate

My thinking

And contemplation

And prayer

©Peter Bean

Australia – Allusions to 1 Kings 19

(written on 12th January, 2011)

If I may take the liberty

You, God

Sent the bushfire

And we did not listen

And we did not learn

But we did respond

   to human heartache and human loss

You, God

Sent the floods

And we did not listen

And we did not learn

But we did respond

   to human heartache and human loss

And I suspect, one day,

If I may take further liberties

You God

May send an earthquake

And we will not listen

And we will not learn

But we will respond

   to human heartache and human loss

But then I think

When will we respond

To you, to your way

Of truth

Perhaps, only

In the silence

That will follow

The silence

Of our lives

When we can truly

Hear your voice

In the silence

©Peter Bean