We have all the wisdom we need

We have all the wisdom we need
     to grant the concluding wish of some Miss Teen Ohio.
We don’t need another summit, conference, committee…
we only need to take a short walk to our own bookshelves,
     pick up, say, Ode to Common Things or The Prophet or The Pearl,
         to mould codes of understanding,
             sow kindness, root honesty, sprout peace.

Our research is a rouse.
The touted break-through will not come,
     as all the evidence suggests
         we don’t want it.

We prefer our malls filled, our money without memory,
our news laundered, our movies vengeful, our enemies evil,
our opponents villainized, our heroes utilized,
our mountains, rivers and oceans monetized.

It’s enough to cheer on that youngster from Sweden
as she travels the world, not using airlines or eating beef,
scolding leaders, whose brows appear appropriately furrowed,
as they walk, sufficiently burdened with concern,
to the lectern and teleprompter and state:
“See, this is our future, our great progressive culture has produced her,
     so be reassured, everything is in hand.

“We only need another term, you’ll see how different
     everything will look in four years.

“We only need one more coal mine, pipeline, frac-site,
wiretap, surveillance app, data dragnet,
missile defence system, arms deal, middle-east regime change,
after which we’ll have the security and capital
to fund emergency rooms, mental health clinics, hospitals, housing,
tackle heart disease, reduce military spending by a huge percentage
     and go so green you won’t believe it.

“Listen, it’s like this: remember when the bald eagle was nearly extinct?
     Now look how well they flourish by the land fills.

“We couldn’t be more serious.
In fact, one CEO, a personal friend, has vowed not to use
any of his swimming pools at any his vacation homes,
until everyone has drinking water,
             or
at least until this business of who owns it is cleared up.

“And we’ll get those corporations to start paying their taxes too,
so we can invest in people,
because,
     dammit,
         that’s our greatest resource,
and our children, like young Greta here,
     God bless ‘em,
         they’re the future!”