An Essay On Man 

~Alexander Pope

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;

The proper study of Mankind is Man.

Plac'd on this isthmus of a middle state,

A being darkly wise, and rudely great:
With too much knowledge for the Sceptic side,
With too much weakness for the Stoic's pride,
He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest,
In doubt to deem himself a God, or Beast;
In doubt his Mind or Body to prefer,
Born but to die, and reas'ning but to err;
Alike in ignorance, his reason such,
Whether he thinks too little, or too much:
Chaos of Thought and Passion, all confus'd;
Still by himself, abus'd, or disabus'd;
Created half to rise, and half to fall;
Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
Sole judge of Truth, in endless Error hurl'd:
The glory, jest, and riddle of the world!
    Go, wond'rous creature! mount where Science guides,
Go, measure earth, weigh air, and state the tides;
Instruct the planets in what orbs to run,
Correct old Time, and regulate the Sun;
Go, soar with Plato to th' empyreal sphere,
To the first good, first perfect, and first fair;
Or tread the mazy round his follow'rs trod,
And quitting sense call imitating God;
As Eastern priests in giddy circles run,
And turn their heads to imitate the Sun.
Go, teach Eternal Wisdom how to rule—
Then drop into thyself, and be a fool!^[10]

— Epistle II, lines 1–30

 

Approach the opening
That hides the trail.
Breathe in that first.
The difference of just these steps
That lead you to this point
Are miniscule.

Another step follows the last,
With towers coming to view.
A cathedral
With needle carpet.
A quiet introduces itself.

A breeze stirs the canopy
But never reaches your face.

You, hearing the rush,
See the bendings atop.
Here the stillness remains,
Cut only by your feet's crunch.

The blaze catches your eye,
Reminding you of raison d'etre.
Resist departure. 
Turn.
See your past.
Take another breath.
Know the next will be
Not the same. 

One finger.  One alignment.  One throw.
The sight is glaring.
The course set in ice. 

 

Forward Steps

Forward Steps -

A sacred movement comes about

where sawn between the events

is found a certitude of facts, 

beyond, again, the known challenged. 

We cry to all to assist in our quest,

a trueness needed to spike the flag,

against the barriers we refuse to sucomb,

and upwards victorious in all our battles.

Slipping

Slipping

This is no true explanation.
Your search will only return you

    to what you were taught.
It's acceptance or rejection is singular.
Personal.
Decide your beginning
    or end.
Decide when you will be responsible;
Today, right now, or when the decision.
    is made.
Make your life what it will be.
Make your existence one to be remembered.

But, by whom. 

 Global operational coal-fired power stations by country 2022

Published by N. Sönnichsen, Aug 3, 2022

 China has the greatest number of coal-fired power stations of any country or territory in the world. As of 2022, there were 1,110 operational coal power plants on the Chinese Mainland. This was nearly four times the number of such power stations in India, which ranked second. China accounts for over 50 percent of total global coal electricity generation.

Coal phase-out worldwide

Coal power plants present various health and environmental threats. Besides demanding large quantities of raw material to be burned, this energy source pollutes water and has high greenhouse gas emissions. Due to these reasons and to tackle the climate crisis, 40 countries committed to phase out their coal power plants at the COP26 summit in 2021. However, the three leading economies with the greatest number of operational coal-fired plants that year did not agree to the terms. In 2021, the global capacity of coal power plants in construction stood at 184.5 gigawatts with an additional 111.8 gigawatts announced, which is nonetheless a considerable decrease compared to the previous years.

Carbon dioxide emissions

China has been the largest coal polluter worldwide since 1990. In 2020, figures reached a record high of 7.4 billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. That year, India had the second largest carbon dioxide emissions from coal use, followed by the United States. The U.S. was either the largest or second-largest polluter for 55 years, before being overtaken by India.

A Time Late

A limit is placed as to

when you may touch your future.

That voice is not

your own.

That voice is louder than

you could ever be.

It has been heard 

by all.

They look to you.

The time will be told

when you will be told.

Again, 

that might be 

too late.

Regards.

Regrets.

Repeat.