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Gray Heavens

Everywhere I go, industry dominates this world Vehicles run on diesel, Massive industrial complexes have many factories That create a skyline of smokestacks The heavens are filled with a gray only we have created Man and machine have come together Like haywire to wire, Generating a power countries only dream of Diesel, our main power source, Allows massive airships with smokestacks of their own To block out the sun Nations around the world use machines for industry, war and everyday life Without diesel, It seems the planet will come to a complete standstill… As an inhabitant of this industrialized world, None of what I see around surprises me… For I have lived in the midst of man’s mechanical reign All of my days But I often worry and question our remaining humanity Some of us have grown prideful and cold Nations have fought us Merely to prove their weapons are stronger and better At times I even wonder if we could Possibly find other ways to go about our lives— Like alternative fuel sources Maybe it seems like the world is industrializing too fast But no one seems to notice that after the Great War, Industry spread like a weed that would not stop growing, No matter what you did to it One must begin to wonder How long this kind of life can possibly last I long to feel the sun on my back, And to breathe in fresh air untouched by the fumes I know too well Can we use what we have, Can we use what we live for, To build each other up, Rather than destroying all in our path? Shall we put our hearts into the cores of our unfeeling machines, Or will we turn to Mother Earth with reverence and passion? Taking and never giving back, How can we expect our planet to provide and sustain us? August 20th, 2014 Collaberation by Justin Connor and Laura Breidenthal Two questions to ponder: What do you think will become of this dieselpunk world? How can this message apply to life in your own society?

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Justin Bordner

Date: 8/31/2014 8:54:00 PM

Harm not Nature, harm not human unless necessity requires such deportment to survive with dignity. I admire the spirit and style of this morally, and legally philosophic poem Laura. Our civilization has egregiously misused technological adavancements, and have fostered a very destructive ethos for global domination. Be that as it may, perhaps " the ends justify the means..." I believe in Divine Inspiration and Divine Intervention, we must fight for our right to survive. J.A.B.

Justin Bordner

Date: 8/31/2014 8:43:00 PM

Question 2 - micro manufacture, meaning local farming, and local skilled craftsmanship in general manufacturing/arts is the historically proven paradigm for creating/sustaining a self sufficient society that respects Nature, Providence, and positive human potential and development Laura. Humans should consider reprensenting themselves, their sovereign natural rights and "Tribe Colonies". A good way to commence is to respect other's differences, revere Nature and Her bounty, and to defy tyrrany.

Justin Bordner

Date: 8/31/2014 8:32:00 PM

Question 1- a third world war may result in the deindustrialization of the world, repositories of manufacturing remaing to satisfy the demands of a significantly smaller global population, and serving the amitions of a Plutocratic technocracy to dominate the planet and to explore/develop bodies in outer space. J.A.B.

Connie Marcum Wong

Date: 8/31/2014 12:50:00 AM

A wonderfully creative collaboration that gives us pause to ponder what our tomorrows will be like if we don't wake up and make major changes before it is too late.