One Thing Is Needful

Whether I need more humility,

Now that my planet is in serious jeopardy,

Or more presumption, is an open question.

Humility reminds me to think of my species

As a single thread in an intricate tapestry

Of millions of threads. But presumption claims

That when I stand back to contemplate the design,

I’m looking down from a platform above the earth.

I’m noting the hundreds of fires that ranchers

And loggers have set in the Amazon.

I’m numbering all the bald spots below

In the High Sierras as another species of pine

Gives up its ghost, gasping for the colder air

No longer available. Humility reminds me

Our species is here and gone in the blink of an eye.

Presumption insists I’m the only hope,

Along with my cohort, of the world we’re busy

Wrecking, that it’s up to us to widen the margins

Of the passing moment, that it’s time to invest

In the myth of a long-lost Eden and the myth

Of the numberless generations to follow ours

Destined to bless us as preservers, not to scorn us

As destroyers. They can’t imagine us now,

Those children to come, but we can imagine them

Returning to grade school after a summer

That bears no resemblance to the Death Valley era

Now predicted. Soon their teachers

Will assign them—without any irony—

The topic of a favorite outdoor adventure.

But first they’re going to call the roll.

It’s good to see you again, Kabir and Carmen,

Chandrash and Lucy, Mingmei and Fred.

Are you ready for long division and fractions?

Are you ready to find Zanzibar on the map?

Humility will inform you you’ve much to learn.

Presumption will encourage you to learn early

Many lessons that we learned late.