Thursday, July 9, 2015

Wild Woman Loses It Completely

These are the baby bears that broke my heart


Wild Woman has an achey-breaky heart,
because the forests are burning,
the wild creatures are suffering, and starving, 
and have no where to run.

A mama polar bear sits on 
a tiny piece of melted iceberg,
ten miles from land,
holding her cub in her arms.
They are waiting for death by starvation
on this planet we have hotted up
beyond sustaining, which is melting.

A young officer loses his job
for refusing to shoot two orphaned baby bears
in a world aflame and gone quite mad.

Government-Speak goes blah blah blah
forever
and nothing changes.
Emissions dont get reduced fast enough
or Enough enough.
They are still pushing the pipeline through,
still fracking,
even while we're running out of water. 
Are they INSANE?

Wild Woman just cant take it any more.

But.

The voice of the people rise  up in protest.
The young man will hopefully not lose his job.
Though it would be very satisfying
if his boss, who gave the order to shoot, lost his.

Wild Woman cannot lose hope,
even if we are all doomed.
Because hope is all she has to give,
along with love for Mother Earth,
who is so heartbreakingly beautiful.

I will go to the river,
drink in its cool green peace,
apologize to the trees
for how poorly we have cared 
for their sister forests,
for the incredible boiling soupy 
red hot mess we've made of living.

Two baby bears got saved this week.
I will hang my heart and my hope
on that.

For those who missed the news story, up-Island, a young conservation officer was sent to shoot a mother bear who was trying to get food from a porch freezer, since there isnt much food to be had in a burning-down forest, or a drying up river. Much of their habitat has been clearcut. The rest is now burning down - which means hotter summers, and more fires each year.

The officer was told to also shoot her two baby cubs, and refused, instead taking them to a wildlife recovery centre so they could have a chance at living, for which he was suspended without pay. During the course of this news story going viral, it was revealed they have "euthanized" (shot) 1900 bears on the Island in recent years - 450 a year - "because there aren't the funds to relocate them". Money, always money, never what is right.

People were outraged, and he will hopefully be reinstated, after an investigation. But after my distress over the forests burning, this story put me right over the top. It takes a lot for Wild Woman to lose hope, but I came close. The world is mad. BUT the people are not - and one has to keep believing their voices will be heard across the land, and we can turn this doddering, misguided, dangerously tipping ship of fools around. 

We are at the mercy of all these forces every bit as much as that mama bear holding her baby on a tiny bit of ice ten miles from shore. We just don't know it yet.

9 comments:

  1. Hopefully, yes he will get reinstated.

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  2. Oh how we need your voice...may we join with you. Humans will not survive without a balance with nature. We cannot feed on coins or drink papery money. I believe so many of the wealthy have become insane with their riches.

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  3. Oh how we need your voice...may we join with you. Humans will not survive without a balance with nature. We cannot feed on coins or drink papery money. I believe so many of the wealthy have become insane with their riches.

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  4. I wonder if there is a limit to how many times a heart can break, Sherry ~

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  5. My heart goes out to you Sherry, hopefully everything will work out and the officer will be reinstated.

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  6. We need people like you who speak for the animals and for the earth. Goddess bless that officer.

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  7. We need more people to make a change~ I am appalled at some of the things I hear. I applaud your poem! Thank you, Sherry for whispering green wonder into our world~

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  8. I love your outrage. I tend to just cry and console myself with hope. But hope may not be enough. Blessings to that brave officer, and to you Sherry for the power of your pen.

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  9. hope is the last straw we cling to...may we all survive or drown together...there is a comfort in togetherness that will struggle till end....you are a precious soul Sherry....

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