9pm
Driving east on 12th
by kits high school
Jeannie looks up from her math book she brought
To study in the car and says
We are on the wrong side of need
What's that mean I ask
Look around she says
Kids on the high school playing soccer
Nice kits homes
Nice kits cars
These are all wants she continues
By now we are at 12th and Arbutus
She goes on
Sometimes wants overshadow needs so that people forget about their needs
I suggest she write this down. She shakes her head.
And then, alas, I interrupt her
To tell her what she already knows in theory
But give her an example about the republican climate deniers
She knows
What they need is an earth strong enough to support people through disasters
I was too busy to realize what she had just said until writing this out
But this is it
We don't need to find the exact moment of peak oil or peak water
We need to find the moment at which we no longer have enough oil to sustain us through a disaster
What disaster?
Sea level rise
We are committed
