Once upon a time there was this precious idea called America. The land was green and the water was clear and the streams ran so pure you could drink right out of them. The forest grew and no one would ever think of cutting down any tree if it were not absolutely necessary. The mountains were sacred. The sky was blue. The stars were bright and we knew that if we wished on one, our dreams might come true because we believed.
So what happened? Well, some got the notion that if they owned more than those around them that they could control things and so they made it their business to own as much as they can and they became crazed with power and there was no end to it or their appetite for conquest and so they made weapons and waged war and shed blood and took what was not theirs and then called it their own and the people who had been transgressed rose up and said no and laws were written but mostly by those who owned everything and so the people got tired and lost faith and gave up hope and most kept their mouths shut and did as they were told and stood in line and waited their turn for what little was left when the pillaging was done.
And when the people went down to their rivers and streams to drink, they found waste and the waters darkened and fish died. And when they looked up, they saw dirt falling only it was not dirt, it was poison. And when they breathed, their lungs darkened and disease fell upon them.
And when they planted seeds to grow things as they had for hundreds of years before, the soil was not fertile and the fruit became less sweet and the animals who fed on the lands weakened and some fell and were never seen again and some birds and plants and creatures of all sort, strange and wondrous ceased to be.
And where there were mountains, great holes were dug and many trees were felled. And where there were oceans with giant sheets of ice that stretched endlessly, the ice began to melt and the oceans swelled and the people saw that it was bad but they had remained silent for so long, they had become mute and feeble. They were sick and yet they knew that if they did not speak now, there might not be another chance and so they began by speaking to each other and then they organized and they started to believe that they could make a difference.
And so once upon a time not so far from now in a time called tomorrow there was hope and this made them strong again and so they stood together where once there were vast divides that separated them, where once they had been sent to war against each other and taught to hate and fear each other and the heavens smiled down on them and they smiled back and they knew that this was not the end, it was a new beginning.
Howard Glasser is a Kelseyville resident
