Ignite Denver #41 Talk: Stories Will Save the World

Wednesday Night October 9th I had the good fortune to share some of my ideas at the live event, Ignite Denver #41. My topic? Stories Will Save the World.

You may have heard the phrase uttered by Neil Degrasse Tyson and others, “We Are Made of Star Stuff”. It’s true, we’re made of the things born at the beginning of the universe. But my talk was about something else. We’re Also Made of Story Stuff. But we’re not just our story. We’re characters in countless stories, those of your parents, your friends, your family, passing acquaintances, that jerk who cut you off on the highway, and yes, you are the villain in someone else’s story.

We Are Made of Story Stuff and that’s why, It will be stories that save the world.

Watch the full talk below or on YouTube.

Growth (Spoken Word Poem)

Fresh this morning at the end of February of 2024, here is a piece of spoken word poetry titled, Growth. Text is below the video.

Growth

Organic,

Certified fresh on grocery store shelves,

Shopping in civility,

In and out like seashells,

On sea shores with shifting tides,

Circulating trash.


There,

Standing over there,

Something untenable,

Titanic,

Trembling walls of plastic,

Like tumors,

Like free trade,

Growing beyond the boundaries of what was always bountiful.

Circulating wealth into the center,

But consecrating that concentration cannot hold,

Beyond borders,

Beyond beauty,

Creeping towards climaxes of cataclysm, catastrophe,

Coffins at higher costs.     


Then,

Virtual panoramas rise,

Hiding villainous views.

Prisons of perspective,

Pluralities of Plutocracies,  

Lending to lingering hours,

 days, weeks, months, years,

of long, lonely lifetimes.  


A gaping maw of similarity,

Simulations without suspense of belief in the simulacra.

Marvels generated in single seconds,

For sensual,

Bread and circuses.


Divide and conquer,

Squabble and squander,

The grass is green of yonder,

Keeping you somber,

Silent, with overtly simple explanations,

Of Black and White thinking.


So you can,

Demonstrate your diligence.

Your dedication, and deliberate reconstruction,

Of that simulation,

Of that model,

Of the other,

So that,

Nothing ever grows in you.


Because,

Your certainty shopping at certified organic store shelves,

Is the only ritual you need.

Of What Mountains Are Made

 

Of What Mountains Are Made

Of What Mountains are Made

Heartbeat,

Heartache,

Heartbeat,

Heartache,

Round the circle,

It forms from further away.

Shadows casting nets,

Masking my face,

They don’t let me see through their gaping holes.

All I see is the rope that binds me.

It’s is a beautiful rope and bares further inspection.

See the weave?

See the loom that made it?

See the origins of the great net in which we are bound?

Bound or unbound?

We need only stand.

We need only move.

And the weave unravels.

You have a choice,

Heartbeat

Heartache

Heartbeat

Heartache

Are they different?

Ascent

AscentAscent

Flowers fortuitously fade from freedom

A descent begins

In Dank Darkness it Decides on Death

Structures Shatter

Wilting Willfully it Waits, Watching

Soon, only essence remains

Silence Sips,

Space Stutters,

Stars Shutter

Potential, only potential

 

All is empty

But…

 

Converging Chemicals Create Clear Conditions

Something Stirs

Excitedly it Emerges from Emptiness

Ascending,

Returning,

Sharing the Silence, the Softness, the Stars

Until Descent