Authenticity is

Authenticity is
Found in the ironic laugh
Dripping from Al Gore's patented shoes
Leaking from the diesel tank of David Suzuki's bus
Oozing from Edward Burtynksy's photography equipment as he snaps shot after shot of our manufactured landscape.

Authenticity is
Found in the salty tear
Dripping from a Chinese worker's eye as she sews together Al Gore's shoes
Leaking from the pores of Bangladesh laborers, shipping off diesel for Suzuki's bus
Oozing from a hungry African girl, crouched in a diamond field, watching Burtynsky eat a sandwich and photograph her landscape.

Authenticity is the silence that falls on a casket after the final eulogy has been spoken.

It's a child's gasp of horror, wonder or surprise as the world unfolds its mysteries, one gasp after another.

It's the two coins donated by a woman on welfare, versus the piles of bills offered by the rich.

It's the quiet heartbeat of humanity being dulled by
layer upon layer of fast food and greed.

It's the groan of creation watching itself be stripped bare, unable to be heard.

Authenticity is a word whose definition we no longer understand.

-Emily Wierenga