The Simple Life

The Simple Life, No Call Waiting

No cell phone, no caller id, no
cable, no Tivo, no Ipod, no
blueberry, no notepad, no laptop, no
riding mower, no leaf blower, no weed eater,
no digital clock, no air conditioner, no new car;
I live in another country, a different century.

I ride my 3-speed bike to work, because
it helps the Earth and eases the body more gracefully
into its dying; it makes the body work hard and
it likes work, likes to do sweat-labor depsite
the avalanche of labor-saving technology whose function
is to drain us of our life force.

I write by hand in a notebook because
I like to see where I've been, follow my tracks back
through the snow to where I started, see how things
work out on the page, where I went wrong,
how to begin again, nothing deleted.
I don't want to know who's calling or

who has called. I've lived 65 years and I have
never gotten a phone call that made a difference.
If you reach me, that's fine, but if you don't
nothing is lost.
Most people are slaves.
That's the way they like it.

After all these years of heartbreak and disappointment,
of treachery and betrayal, are you so far gone
that you believe the next phone call will be the one
that saves you? When Death comes for you,
you can't say, Would you mind holding?
I've got a life on the other line.


- Red Hawk -

I Keep A Different List

My neighbor counts his loses and gains,

but I keep track of raindrops when it rains;

he makes note of coins and dollar bills

while I am watching ants upon their hills;

while he is in the office making money,

I go out among the bees to gather honey,

and when he comes home tired and goes online,

I am in the backyard drinking wine.

My wife and I sit in the gathering dark

and watch the lightning bugs and bright stars spark

until we disappear, are covered up with night,

while my neighbor plots his life by computer light.

- Red Hawk -

To find the Universal elements enough;

to find the air and water exhilarating;

to be refreshed by a morning walk or an evening saunter...

to be thrilled by the stars at night;

to be elated over a bird's nest or a wildflower in spring --

These are some of the rewards of the simple life.

- John Burroughs, American Naturalist -