Curations: Manifesto
One of my favorite poets (whose work will show up here regularly, I'm sure) is Wendell Berry. As a writer and a farmer, many of his themes and images are drawn in the natural world. I especially like his poem, "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front," shared below with some emphasized lines that are especially meaningful for me. Which lines or phrases stand out to you, and why?
Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.
So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.
Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millennium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.
Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion — put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?
Go with your love to the fields.
Lie easy in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.
Practice resurrection.
I find myself drawn back to this poem and it's themes of death and life, dying and resurrection, as well as the way it contrasts our society and culture to the natural world. It reminds me of the parables of Jesus, often rooted in the natural world or agriculture, which challenged the prevailing wisdom of the day.
How does the rhythm and reality of the natural world challenge our ideas of "success"? Of what is "reasonable" or "logical"?
What are the questions you would ask that have no answers?
What could you do every day that doesn't compute, but that can bring new life to yourself or others? How might you practice resurrection?
I would love to hear your reflections and reactions to this poem (even if you don't like it!). Comment here or reach out with your thoughts!
- GJD
