Photo: dreamstime.com
Tomorrow, January 26, is “Australia Day” a slap in the face to our Indigenous people who remember it as Invasion Day. It is supposed to be a national holiday to commemorate the founding of Australia (as a white colony) under the British realm. I would rather we celebrated our so called nationhood in line with the federation of Australia and found other ways to be more united in a commonly agreed set of values and purpose. In another sense, I am not committed to any flag, I am however, committed to people irrespective of status, colour, religion and creed. In my view flags, nationalism and patriotism are dangerous, and the proof of that is in the daily news!
“Mounting an expedition to actualise a Compassionate Commonwealth of all peoples … is the great spiritual challenge of our time.” Sam Keen
But The Earth Laughs
Someone planted a flag and watered it
with jingoism and platitudes that
had no real connection to anything
let alone meaning
in the truest sense of the word,
people made pious statements and swooned
as if the earth might clap with joy
at the sound of our own voices,
exulting over our claims,
but the earth laughs at us as a
parent laughs at a child who thinks it knows,
until the child grows and
poisons the soil with nationalism,
worse, it murders unity with patriotism
and life wilts before us in
borders, walls and detention
where no one is safe,
and words become blades that
wound and butcher
for the mere sense of a date
or the colour of skin,
and yet we skilfully wallpaper death
like nothing is wrong
and we raise champagne to a
beautiful monied lie,
that fiction of ownership,
that we own what we do not own
be it mountains,
or be it myths and legends.
©Paul Vincent Cannon
Paul, pvcann.com
parallax 
I think you nailed it.
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Thank you so much Susan.
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A great poem that twists our traditional understanding of things on its head.
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Thank Pat for your thoughts, yes indeed.
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“we raise champagne to a beautiful monied lie” ….the whole poem is such an absolutely perfect description of my country –how did you know so much about America? Oh wait, you were talking about your country …Great poem!
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I think we’re on a similar trajectory, with similar goals, our leaders are not listening or seeing. But nor are the people, sigh. Thank you so much for sharing.
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Oh Paul, this really resonated! So true.
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Thank you so much Punam 🙂 glad it spoke.
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It sure did! You are welcome. 🙂
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TELL it!
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Thank you Ana 🙂
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If only we would care for things as eagerly as we claim them.
Powerful piece, Paul. Thank you.
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Many thanks Sandy for your thoughts and encouraging words.
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Always happy to do so.
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I am touched. Yes, we have a tendency to claim ownership over nature itself by certain exalted notions. Whereas, a sense of brotherhood is important.
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Yes, very much so, thank you for reflecting on this.
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I am so happy and so honored you wrote this! XOX
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Reblogged this on The Mix and BIG ISMS and commented:
Invasion Day
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copy, paste, author credited, blog link included. I have to share this.
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Most welcome, and thank you.
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A very powerful poem, mate. 😉. The jingoism fills me with despair, including how people buy into it. Isn’t it ironic that when big corporations jump the fence to mine on people’s properties (seeing how we only own what’s above the ground) that there is outrage? And rightly so.
Hope you don’t mind my chats, Paul.
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Yes, so agree Tracy. I don’t mind our chats at all, I look forward to them 🙂
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Fortunately for you 🙂
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Lol, yes indeed. Are you enjoying our extended pommy flag weekend?
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I don’t mind a spirited love=in but do we have to do this every year? Taxpayers money and all that …
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Yes, I think a decade marker might be okay. The money would be better spent on core things like education and health.
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And now there is a bushfire in Namadgi NP. It’s hot and windy. Pessimistic me thinks it was some idiot having a barbie. We shall see.
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I saw a bloke toss a cigarette the other day, I was surprised the bush strip didn’t catch. I saw the report, doesn’t look good.
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Some suggest the whole lot could go. Then there is the city and of course wildlife stills here.
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Gasp, and yet the resources are not utilised. I cannot believe that as per the treaty, the US offered the water bombers long ago but weren’t taken up on it, still not. There’s no plan, no interest, it’s all just another hot summer, grrr
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No way! Really about the water bombers?
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Yes indeed. It came to national attention via the American author and academic, Naomi Wolf who did some digging through the Pentagon.
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!!! It was probably rejected because Brian Houston didn’t get an invite to the White House. See, I’ve turned into a bitter, old woman.
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Lol, spat me coffee, they just need to pray a little harder, more Huhs (as in those huckster style preachers who say a line then go Huh).
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Our arrogance will be our undoing.
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Yes, I fear we have wasted too much time already, There’s an urgency for me.
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A trenchant commentary on our current state of affairs. The self-righteous posturing for political [read personal] is getting increasingly difficult to bear.
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Yes, I’m struggling with the intransigence and denial of so many in power or positions of influence.
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One people, one earth.
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Yes to that! 🙂
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So well written and expressed here. Thank you!
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Thank you for those encouraging words Cheryl.
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So true. Humans are just a little pimple on the nose of the earth.;-)
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We are indeed.
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🙂
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A sad and disturbing reflection of of our reality which humanity has created
>
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Yes, the madness we have been.
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You need to publish this more widely
>
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🙂
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This is beautiful like Imagine. What we need id more laughter and less flags
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