the other side of summer

now that summer is unofficially over i can reflect upon an unusual season for we've seen these past few weeks in the u.s. naked racism, bigotry & hatred; we've witnessed the horrors of hurricanes and tropical storms that were strengthened by a warmer world; we may [and i stress the word 'may'] see a pair, or troika, of nations thump their nuclear armed chests at each other; & we've seen a most remarkable solar eclipse which is a small reminder of the beauty & strangeness of the the universe, a universe that is, i hazard to say, quite indifferent to human existence

there is much to be pessimistic about

but there is much to be grateful for & what is a poet to do but to register both horror & joy

my family holidayed on the central coast of california in a beach house where we chased the solar eclipse because the coast was socked in by fog; we saw humpback whales feeding on sardines -- one was so close it grazed the pilings of the pier we were standing one -- & killer whales & dolphins & sea otters etc etc.  all these animals we saw in media res for what is the witness of a life but the middle of a story

we've had more than a few days of triple digit heat, made worse by nearby fires -- if the world is not underwater it is burning -- that smudged the sky & the sun looked like an orange disk

we've escaped the heat by going to the public pool & today was the last day the pool is open for the season, it is a little bittersweet for the summer season is now over, i'm sure tomorrow the commercials on TV will advertise autumn

& yet for today the weather broke, it was overcast & muggy, i thought we woke this morning magically transported to new jersey, but the temperature was in the mid 90s F even if the clouds mixed with smoke

it was while i was in the deep pool [14 ft] that anna & smelled the smoke of a brushfire; the smell reminded both of us so much of the scent of burning rice fields, an odor of our childhoods, when the rice farmers would burn their fields in autumn so that the scents of burning rice married the changing seasons & for me the fall always speaks the language of halloween

we've destabilized the fuck out of the climate, these storms, in the u.s. and in south asia, are not the last of super-powerful hurricanes; our politics is all kinds of screwed up; hatred has uncovered its ugly head

& yet & yet i can't help but be glad to be alive, is that naive?  i don't know as much as i don't know what will happen in the next few months

the trend lines read pretty shitty, AI & automation are here, how these change the world for the better or for the worse is unknown

AGW has probably passed a couple of tipping points

as for bigotry & hate well this summer was the 50th anniversary of the SUMMER OF LOVE, another violent, turbulent time, a not insignificant reminder of the continuous struggle for equality, acceptance &, dare i say it, love for not only our own human being but love for this planet & its life sustaining ecosystems

but we are all here now, as catullus wrote, odi et ami [i hate & i love], & another poet wrote carpefuckingdiem, with love for every human being & for all things