The failure of our leaders

The technological achievements of humanity are impressive. Our failures to make a serious effort at peace or to create cultures of authentic cooperation and compassion are equally impressive. Our communities are held together more by fear, greed, and shame than by love. Despite the entreaties and admonitions of millennia of spiritual teachers, people with temporal power play the game the same old way, assuming there's no other way to play it. Are they right?

So here I still am

Enduring
Whether I want to or not
I want to
I don't want to
I'm sad
I'm grateful
I'm out of Adderall
I have errands to run
Infrastructure to keep up
A body to care for
Midterm exams to grade
Professional letters to write
Social media friends who value my shots of affirmation
Desperate people who need my help
Online blogs I feel the need to censor
A bicycle that needs to be ridden
A vinyl LP project I need to follow to completion
Clouds to gawk at and photograph with my smartphone
Progressive politicians who need my money
 if we're going to slam the brakes on Trump
 and the cynical guardians of the wealthy.
A daughter who's getting married in Mexico
 to an amazingly fine man.
Obviously
I will endure some more
God willing