Possession

  1. Born naked and helpless in this Earthly place,
    A great systemic truth, I was forced to face:
    I arrived with nothing to contribute here,
    When I die, I'll take nothing with me, I fear,
    But while I remain, my life I must sustain.

  2. Pragmatic observation to me does proclaim,
    That from pauper to king, all are the same,
    They all have the same human bodily form,
    With legs to convey them and hands to work;
    And a head with an 86 billion neuron brain.

  3. I would obviously expect in this world to see,
    Each with the same means to use with equity,
    To turn the work of his brain, hands and legs,
    Into what keeps him housed, clothed and fed,
    Rendering him thereby independent and free.

  4. But what I see in its stead, is a world I abhor,
    Of a landed elite and a dispossessed poor.
    A few with the wealth and the many in debt,
    Slaving for ever under destitutional threat.
    Why not break free of this intolerable chore?

  5. How did this few come to possess our Earth?
    Did they earn it by work, graft, merit and virtue?
    No. They took it and confiscated it from the poor,
    By bullying, aggression, combat, threat and war;
    By stealth, deception, conspiring, theft and law.

  6. So though in this world, which birth to me gave,
    To survive I must be always a debted slave.
    I may own my food, clothes, shelter and things,
    But all of these only the land to me brings,
    For whose use I must pay rent and tax to have.

  7. It's time to change the world order, I declare,
    To allocate to each his fair and equitable share.
    Allodial possession without impediment or tax,
    To use and exploit through sustainable acts,
    That he and she, in freedom, well may fare.

  8. But possession must not be a means to exclude,
    My land must be free for you to pass through,
    I have only the right to its economic gain,
    Reducing with range from my abodal domain,
    On a graduated scale between me and you.

  9. But please be assured and be always aware,
    Strife will continue 'till the Earth we all share,
    Till each has right to his own mean free space,
    Like atoms of the air and beasts in their place.
    Man, learn from nature to govern your affairs.

  10. In today's rancid mess of a world without care,
    They could start by giving, each his own share.
    Though his birthright to use be impractical now.
    He could from it gain a fair income somehow.
    To live and work well, without fear or despair.


© 01 November 2022 Robert John Morton | See: Ownership | Ownership of Land