How many days and weeks have gone by — 

Since I entered this cocoon of a busy mind? 

Since then, what suffering has come to pass — 

Which corner of the world has been destroyed? 

Forgetfulness is the death of humankind, 

Distractions bringing us to dark times. 

Whilst praying for our Mother Earth — 

We consume and pollute her body. 

Who would have believed us in the past — 

That natural resources will come to an end? 

That the world is not ours for the taking — 

That eight billion could be a human number? 

The momentum of mindless consumption — 

Is like a great oil tanker that is hard to turn. 

It needs for us to stop and carry on stopping — 

For towards the horizon rocky shores loom. 

For just one hour, I remember to act wisely — 

Then for two weeks, I forget to remember. 

For one day, I remember the whole of the world — 

Then for two years, I only think of my world. 

It is with sadness that I now contemplate — 

That many are in the same sad situation. 

We are too busy and distracted to look up — 

We think small, not large, not kind, not far. 

Now that these words have been written down — 

May they be a bookmark for me to remember. 

May they inspire us to start a fresh new page — 

Not add chapters to volumes of forgetfulness. 

— Luan V Dinh

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