The Druid Dialectic
When Tailtiu cleared the plains
She created modern life.
No longer slipping through the gloom
Of spirit haunted woods
Our ancestors stepped out into the light.
They settled in villages,
Then towns, then cities – civilised.
They no longer followed food.
They planted crops, grazed cattle.
Earth fetched them food in season.
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They stored their surplus,
Scored stones to mark their lands,
Cut tallies to count their wealth.
They made laws, taxes,
Trade, division of labour,
Jobs, careers, professions, institutions,
Books and media, governments and standing armies.
And here am I, the harvest of all seeds sown.
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I live in a world of screens
And think abstract thoughts.
I drink water from a distant spring.
My food comes wrapped in plastic.
I visit nature as an outing.
I am a useless crop.
Plough me back under.
Leave the field fallow.
Let the soil break me down
And save what is of service.
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Tailtiu cleared the plains
But left encircling forest
So we could return when needed.
We must go deep enough
Into the moss-choked dark,
Walk far enough
Over treacherous paths,
Feel enough fear
Of sudden noises
And spirits moving in shadows
That our old wild soul breaks
Gasping to the surface.
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Then we recognise again
The fox’s footprint
(even if we must check it on Google).
We cannot drink from the rivers
(for these we have polluted)
But we can tilt back our heads
And taste the rain again.
We can step outside
And remember what it is to be
Hot or cold or dry or wet
As nature and the elements decide.
We can give up control
And remember freedom.
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When we return
As a tidy field-grown crop again,
We refuse to grow in rows.
We are full of weeds
That chemicals cannot kill.
Beer brewed from us
Is dangerously potent.
Food made from us
Nourishes until the next time
We need to leave Lughnasadh behind,