In Praise of Coming Scarcity
The crushing burden of plenty
Felt mainly in the lifting
Sits lighter now, painless
As morning air on our shoulders.
Shopping carts, cast off, tilt
Under stacks of spiral
Notebooks, tied in string
As if they might kite up on air
Gusting above the homeless camps
We drive by each morning
On our way in to work.
It can’t have been easy
Carrying the weight
Of such impossible need—
Our projects of acquisition
Always a step ahead of
Our ever-expanding means,
Until it was all set aside
To step more lightly
Into a welcoming era
Of less.