Small and intimate
Large and shallow
Primitive relatedness, feeling immeasurable depth
Technological dependence, feeling alone and hollow
Dare we integrate hard truths, and valuable lessons
Lest we segregate ourselves, and whitewash the past
As we march ever forward
Will humanity last?
Our success isn’t certain
Nor is our demise
Humanity is clever
But are we very wise?
It’s not about binary
Backwards or forwards
It’s about life itself
Being life’s stewards
Not just the lives
Of some human beings
This has always been true
Perhaps the most true, of all true things
Too many have lost sight
Of the truth that I speak
The blind and misguided
Insist the future is bleak
Nothing lasts forever
This also is true
But blindness means
There is something beyond view
Be not blind
I say without hate
Yes, choose your own mind
But know you are also choosing our fate
Darkness isn’t disease
And light not its cure
Integrate, don’t segregate
And we shall endure

Months ago I felt inspired to write the above poem to express how I felt about one of my favorite permaculture principles. That principle is: “Integrate Rather Than Segregate.” I originally wrote it on July 4, 2026, but I slowly began to share it a few days later and in posting it here I am sharing it with the world. Some elements of it may be controversial, but I think that a lot of good art is controversial and shaking things up a bit can be a positive thing. I wrote this poem without the assistance of “artificial intelligence” or whatever word or phrase one might choose to describe the emerging technologies spawning out of large language models (LLMs) and such.