by IRENE FOWLER, Contributor

“The dog is a gentleman; I hope to go to his heaven not man’s.” – Mark Twain

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Good morning everyone and welcome.

Whatever your preferred flavour of life is – sweet, savoury, spicy or somethin’ else, welcome to the melting pot. I am on West African time, so ‘servez-vous.’

Even though we are helpless to change things on a macro scale, we can in our own small ways, align with love and the positive. As we contribute our quota, we are building towards a critical mass which can force change/s for good.

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“As a species we face a nearly overwhelming and frankly frightening cluster of conundrums. While our attention may be given to the politics and catastrophes of the day, we will not be thinking much about the upcoming decades. But the problems we are facing are not going away and, if we proceed with business as usual, are likely to worsen.

Perhaps you have read the recent popular little novel, The Art of Racing in the Rain. It features two characters – Denny, a race-car driver, and his dog, Enzo. Denny treats Enzo as his best friend, watching videos of car races with him, talking with him about the fine points of winning races, like declaring “Your car goes where your eyes go”; Enzo takes it all in. Denny senses his dog’s acute intelligence, but can’t be sure exactly what Enzo comprehends.”

“Funny thing, though: in actuality Enzo has an extremely keen, human-level mind and he is getting ready to be born in his next life as a human being. He can only bark, but his thinking is crystal clear and his empathy is as deep a river. With a mix of sadness and acceptance Enzo tells the reader: “Gestures are all I have.”

One day Denny takes Enzo out on the race track for a treat. He checks out the territory, taking his Bimmer out for some “hot laps” before his competitors arrive. Enzo loves it, barking twice (as agreed beforehand with Denny) to say, “Go Faster!” Denny instructs Enzo to have –  big eyes, far eyes!”

— Planetary Marathon by Blair Gelbond, with Irene Fowler

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ENZO

by Irene Fowler

The cosmic marathon to choose life, stave off, earth’s demise
A race away from the cruel, yawning abyss, to an earth rebuilt
Imperiled human and planetary life, all mortgaged to the hilt
Hazard signs aplenty, blaring sirens, red lights crazily blink
Unprecedented! alarming! dangerous! buzzwords for Rodin’s great ‘Thinker’
Multitudes numbed, by denial, distraction, daily drudgery
Misguided leaders glibly tout past and future, worldly glory
The oppressed, somnolent and carefree, buy fabricated stories
Society, upended by obscene, wildly disparate income brackets
Bare pantries of the work-a-day, homeless scavenge garbage buckets
Still, trillion-dollar budgets, fund savage, unending, war rackets
Ascendant oligarchic-dictatorship, steering ships of state
Flailing democracy, teetering on autocracy’s soiled, slippery, slate
The duo’s horns, locked in a macabre, ugly dance of death
Individual rights of the demos, gasping for air, with every laboured breath
Mother Earth-Gaia-Bundu, sacked, hacked, a mausoleum for manmade gunk
On life support, her precious, fertile, womb shredded, rendered, junk
Earth aborts future life, poisoned air chokes, sullied oceans wail
In hair on fire messaging to the planet, she lifts her mystical, sacred veil
Mankind’s cash-cow skirting ruination, dastardly marred
Nuclear arsenals readied, absent exit route to Sirius, Vega or Achernar
Loving, kind, compassionate Enzo barks in eager anticipation
Heart yearning, bursting with pride, to join the human experimentation
Big, far eyes see distant possibilities turbocharge his race to earth
He tells us; ‘for now, gestures are all I have before rebirth’
Enzo gazes adoringly at humanity; licking, rolling, snuggling, wagging his bushy tail
Gentle, trusting, dog eyes full of love, and all that love entails.

©2021 by Irene Fowler

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Famous quote:

“A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.” – Josh Billings

As we ponder whether Enzo will make it to Earth while it is still capable of sustaining life, and what we can learn from man’s best friends; it behooves us to use our respective platforms to advocate for the betterment of mankind and our planet.

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