____________________________________________________________________ Sunset is an angel weeping Holding out a bloody sword No matter how I squint I cannot Make out what it's pointing toward Sometimes you feel like you live too long Days drip slowly on the page You catch yourself Pacing the cage. --- Bruce Cockburn

How many of us have a sneaking suspicion that something pretty fundamental is going wrong in the world? We’ve grown up listening to a fairytale story that tells us we are unfulfilled, and the only way to be happy is to consume more and more, faster and faster. We keep hearing about the potentially devastating consequences of climate change but we are pumping more carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere every single year.

____________________________________________________________________ THE POET I just watched a video from 1992 of the 30th Anniversary Concert for Bob Dylan in association with Columbia Records, featuring the celebrant and a bevy of (then) label stablemates and guests, including Eric Clapton, Willie Nelson, George Harrison, Tom Petty, Kris Kristofferson, Neil Young, Johnny Cash, Stevie Wonder and a host of others, spinning their unique interpretations from Mr. Zimmerman's voluminous songbook.

___________________________________________________________________ We recently took a tour of the (once) private quarters of the Hearst family at Hearst Castle, courtesy of the California State Parks. In this day and age dominated by subjects like climate change and income inequality, it was ironic to be standing in the private rooms of the scion of one of this country's richest families - one that in its current corporate incarnation, still owns and operates a media empire rivaled by few, ranging from print to broadcast outlets to the internet (Mozilla), viewing a legacy gathered from around...