As Others See Us

High up I hear the stars,                D  G
Too many far for counting,           D  A
Shine on your eastern shores,       D  G
And rock your rocky mountains.  A  G
Behold the pioneers
Dream a dream of freedom.
Behold a trail of tears,
And what remains of Eden.

Hey, Hey, for an hour,
From the madness free us.
Hey, Hey, to have the power
To see ourselves as others see us.

How many can we break,
And stay among the living?
How many lives we take.
How can there be forgiving?
Dream all that may have been
Taken all for granted.
Warnings upon the wind:
Is that all that we’ve planted?

Hey, Hey, for an hour,
From madness free us.
Hey, Hey, to have the power
to see ourselves as others see us.

                    ©Doug Hendren 2019

Thanks to Scotland’s great poet Robbie Burns for his immortal lines:

 ‘O, wad some Power the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us!I
t wad frae monie a blunder free us,
An’ foolish notion.’

Just two short centuries since the wagon trains headed west across the incomparable riches of North America, we have consumed land and resources like locusts, altered the chemistry of the air and the oceans, and literally set the world on fire. When we could be leading the world in a sustainability revolution, we have instead allowed captains of the oil industry to lie to us for decades, and even today to block immediate, decisive action.  A small window of opportunity remains. Let us come to our senses and use it!