Chris Milne Writes: Poetry, Philosophy and Essays

One thing I enjoy about today,
Is that humanity begins to find our way.
For under the Anthropocene, we are all the same.

And so, the journey begins to become one.
But it is sad, for it has only barely begun. 
And time is not on our side this time!

Instead, what I find behind everyone’s eyes,
Is a decision towards diversion.
Today, to maintain is to escape.

Homeostasis of body and mind,
Requires homo sapiens to run and hide.
We have no concept of who we are – not yet one we can all stand behind. 

And so instead, even with mild persistence,
We must find a form of escape:

Whether it be the placement of oneself on the pursuit of profit on the hedonic treadmill of capitalist consumption;
Whether it be a flight from the depth of spirit, and the constant scroll of stimulation devoid of rejuvenating visions;
Whether it be the desire for conquest and expansion, the forevermore boundedness to the pursuit of power – that drug which ended the Holocene;
Whether it be the willfully blind acceptance of the copium that is hope… yes, even that sacred temple, the final citadel of justification: even hope, that trap I fall into… I see now that even this is but a form of escape.

For to hope for tomorrow without skin in the game, without a stake,
Is but to place yourself back in the comforting hands of God, of Fate.
And I see now that there is truly no escape.

We are all One under the Anthropocene.
As humans’ steps onto the planetary scale,
We become weighed by one single measure,
With Gaia on the other, Lady Justice holds us together.

The only escape is acceptance.
That under the Anthropocene, our paths become one.
A singular procession of Human now under the sun.
So, no wonder we stand so stunned.

But with that blinding light in sight,
We cannot just maintain any longer.
For as we stand upon this stage, we must again ask:
Who is Human going to become? What shall be our song that is sung?