price of a generation

They say that the devil is in the detail,

but I think the devil is in the retail of this coffee that I sip

from an old man with leathered skin

from halfway across the globe

fair trade in a plastic cup

but would you trade your plastic cup,

if you were asked to give it up?

when the mountains that we cherish

are the same mountains that become

the granite countertops

in which we set our laptops on

with their elegant wallpapers of sandstone cliffs

while we eat our take-out Chinese out of Styrofoam containers

staining our new shirts, these organic cotton threads

What is the cost?

when our communities are cancer clusters

with front lawns of monocultures

abandoned coal mines with Marlboro man posters

is this the wild wild west?

or the west sold to the highest bidder

with the highest figure?

what is the cost?

after all of the fracking and cracking

from lobbyist financial backing

comes the water and oil stained black

so you better stay back

if you plan to light that match

(Curtains close – fade to black)

pleasure doing business with you

What is the cost?

when stronger storms become the norm,

record year happening year after year

see you can avoid the truth,

but you cannot avoid the consequences

of avoiding the truth

What is the cost?

In 50 years, I want my grandkids to swim in the creek

I want to dip my face in the icy stream of a distant peak

and not have to explain that

once upon a time there was more fish than plastic

once upon a time the earth had lungs before we stripped it of that magic

What is the cost?

Action,

isn’t just reserved for those of a certain faction

and protective passion,

isn’t just for those with threads soaked in campfire smoke

see hope is,

for every living person

and every living thing on this earth

so with a voice comes a responsibility for action

So what is the cost?

More importantly though, is who pays the price?

Think of that when you look into a child’s eyes