Autumn

“The world rising
can put an end
to anything:
the murder of children
whales
elephants
oceans.
Get up. Roll over
on that part
of you
that will not
welcome
recognize
encourage
or even see
our rise.
A compassionate roll:
we must be done
with cruelty
especially to ourselves,
to start again
beaming like the sun;
fresh.
But a roll that shows
we’ve reached the end
of polite moves
to repair and re-create the Earth,
and will press hard
on any parts of us
even those we have loved,
that insist
on remaining
oblivious
and
asleep.”
― Alice Walker, Taking the Arrow Out of the Heart

“It was war, and in war the truth was almost always the first casualty.”
― Vince Flynn, Executive Power

“But what if God himself can be simulated, that is to say can be reduced to signs that constitute faith? Then the whole system becomes weightless, it is no longer anything but a gigantic simulacrum - not unreal, but simulacrum, that is to say never exchanged for the real, but exchanged for itself, in an uninterrupted circuit without reference or circumference.”
― Jean Baudrillard, Simulacra and Simulation

“Finally, she mused that human existence is as brief as the life of autumn grass, so what was there to fear from taking chances with your life?”
― Mo Yan, Red Sorghum