This art created by my brilliant friend Marian Bantjes hangs on our wall.

It seems like a good time to share it.

Localism by Marian Bantjes

Maybe one day we will all be local
In our small communities structured for survival.
We will hew things out of wood
and farm our plots of land for seasonal food
Our neighbours will be potters, metalsmiths,
bakers, weavers and stonemasons.
We’ll have a primitive doctor
and a sadistic dentist.
The weather will be our enemy, and our savior
gracing us with water
or withholding it for too long.
We will be surrounded by the warmth of animals
using them for everything they have to
give us while struggling to keep them alive.
We’ll know each other well and gather
under Summer stars and around Winter fires
To tell stories about the past.
We’ll assist in births and deaths.
We’ll worry mostly about food.
We’ll draw pictures of each other on skins
and in stone & wood.
Now and then a stranger will come.