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                      Selections from 
    Let the waters be my witness: A message about our watery world 
                      by T Newfields

Written between 1972 and 2012, this is a collection of poems,
art works, and dialogs about a broad range of ecological themes. 
Many political and spiritual issues are also addressed in this volume. 
Here are some excerpts  -


"The things we create seldom reveal who we are. Sometimes, however, they 
 reveal who we are trying to become. In some ways that's more important."
			- p. 2, ln. 9, 10 
			  [Soo's opening dialog]

"What we call 'common sense' often seems rather senseless."
			- p. 6, ln. 5 
			  [Philyra's dialog on _Immensity_]

"When you approach it logically, all passion is rather silly."
			- p. 7, ln. 3 
			  [Andrei's dialog on _Immensity_]

"A shell within a shell: that is our existence."
			- p. 7, ln. 19-20 
			  [_Immensity_, Stanza V]

"Perhaps we've forgotten what's important:
 Aren't we mere shells in the sea?"
			- p. 9, ln. 6-7 
			  [_Immensity_, Stanza VI]

"Too much philosophy gets in the way of clear seeing."
			- p. 12, ln. 4
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Directions_]
			  
"Why does democracy so often degenerate into entropy? 
Can we ever really harmonize the chorus of voices within us?"
			- p. 13, ln. 6,7
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Directions_]

Distinction between 'self' and 'other' break down when we take a long-term view. 
Time is a great homo . . . homogu . . . homogenizer!
			- p. 16, near bottom
			  [Soo's dialog on _Like $hell$?_]

"We're not that different from ordinary fish."
			- p. 17, ln. 3 of dialog
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Strange Fish_]


"I think of art as a countermeasure against global insanity."
			- p. 16, ln. 23-24
			  [Andrei's dialog on _Undulations_]

"Non-thinking: isn't that what allows grisly horror to become simple 
 routine? Just bypass awareness and function on automatic pilot."
			- p. 17, ln. 9-10
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Scalloping_]

"we are not the final products of evolution -
 just tiny worms moving forward one fraction of one inch"
			- p. 18, ln. 18-22
			  [_Unraveling_, last 5 lines]

". . . in time all things flower if they touch the light"
			- p. 19, ln. 19-21
			  [_Lotus Pond_, last 3 lines]

". . . anything concerned with values is also inherently political. 
 Every choice we make has political reverberations."
			- p. 17, ln. 9-10
			  [Philyra's dialog on _Coral Reefs_]

"Perhaps contradiction is the essence of being human."
			- p. 22, ln. 20-21
			  [Vidhya's dialog on _Healing Waters_]

"Dawn for some is sunset for others. They always coexist."
			- p. 25, ln. 6-7
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Ocean at Dusk_]

". . . everyone has slimy parts and we must all come 
 face-to-face with our own monsters."
			- p. 28, ln. 19-20
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Ocean at Dusk_]

"Arrogance and apathy: aren't they hallmarks of our civilization?"
			- p. 35, ln. 4
			  [Jules's dialog on _Barracuda_]

". . . ethical values must carry more weight than economic expedience."
			- p. 36, ln. 3
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Dolphinsong_]

"Why is it that society turns many people into small ponds 
 instead of deep oceans?"
			- p. 37, ln. 2
			  [Jules's dialog on _Sargasso_]

"We've got to learn to see everything as political: 
 the things we buy, the stuff we say, the clothes we wear, 
 and of cause the poems we write."
			- p. 38, ln. 3-4
			  [Philyra's dialog on _Manta_]

"Perhaps the world needs more non-sense. 
 We should live lightly and not take ourselves so seriously." 
			- p. 43, ln. 22-23
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Metamorphosis_]

"If you really care about something, you should be solid about it. 
 When it comes to our core values, we should be absolutely firm."
			- p. 44, ln. 3-4
			  [Philyra's dialog on _Liquid_]

"It seems the best way to think is to take a vacation from thinking 
 for a while - turn off the intellect for a period, then switch it 
 back on when needed."
			- p. 46, ln. 2-3
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Counter Currents_]

"Too much intellect with too little conscience - 
 isn't that a recipe for disaster?"
			- p. 46, ln. 5
			  [Soo's dialog on _Counter Currents_]

"Be the colors you were born to be -
 whether that's black, blue, yellow, or green."
			- p. 49, ln. 19-22
			  [_I am Grey_, Stanza V]

"We can never be entirely neutral. As long as we are in this world 
 we invariably manifest some shade. That doesn't have to indicate 
 your core identity, but it does express  a trace of what you were 
 at one point in time."
			- p. 49, ln. 32-36
			  [Philyra's dialog on _I am Grey_]

"If you look at history closely, generally the poor and weak
 pay for the follies of the rich and famous."
			- p. 49, ln. 32-36
			  [Philyra's dialog on _I am Grey_]

"At times our whole civilization seems like a giant, gas-guzzling automobile." 
			- p. 52, ln. 1
			  [Andrei's dialog on _Porno-Industrialism_]

"All things from human hands
 are like bubbles in the sea"
			- p. 55, ln. 14-15
			  [_Sunken Cathedral_, Stanza III]

"In the future, we must all must become alchemists."
			- p. 57, ln. 5
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Urban Pastoral_]

"All your smug moral certitudes have their counter-weights, 
 which also have validity in a certain time and place."
			- p. 60, ln. 8-9
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Watercress_]

"A certain amount of crap is inevitable. Don't be so damn fastidious!"
			- p. 61, ln. 4
			  [Philyra's dialog on _Borders of Apathy_]

"Our basic choice is to be alive or dead: as long as you are clinging 
 to some real or imagined past, you're essentially dead."
			- p. 61, ln. 5-6
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Borders of Apathy_]

"Though many of the world's problems seem too big to face
 the boundaries of our apathy reveal how our conscience is really placed."
			- p. 61, ln. 21-25
			  [_Borders of Apathy_, Stanza IV]

"Human denial is deep-seated, especially when powerful 
 economic interests are involved."
			- p. 65, ln. 3
			  [Andrei's dialog on _Global Warming_]

"Being unable to change perfectly should not prevent us  
 from trying to change at all."
			- p. 68, ln. 3
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Wronggg Song_]

"Words are like cobwebs at times. We've got to cut through them."
			- p. 68, ln. 13
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Wronggg Song_]

"Cleanse yourself of terrestrial ideologies
 and . . . find stillness and clarity."
			- p. 70, ln. 14-17
			  [_Below the Surface_, Stanza V]

"There mere idea of 'simplicity' comes about only if there is complexity."
			- p. 74, ln. 3
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Simplicity_]

"Most of the crap we encounter is simply between our own ears."
			- p. 76, ln. 3
			  [Ellesha's dialog on _Den of Weeds_]

"No une wants ta listen ta a preacher, even aff whad he says iz raight."
			- p. 76, ln. 14
			  [Andrei's dialog on _Den of Weeds_]

"Don't let our futures become trade-marked, cute, little info-gimmicks
 and incarnations of greed. Affirm the parts of us that are still wild
 and parts of life which belong to every being."
			- p. 76, ln. 23-33
			  [_Den of Weeds_, Stanza IV]

Copyright (c) 1972, 2006 T Newfields. 
May be used freely for non-profit purposes.

Source: www.tnewfields.info/BlueEarth/

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