The Heartbeat of Mother Earth

[Lynn Thompson Photography

Union Bay, B.C.

Clayoquot Blockade #93]

In the darkness before dawn, we gather around the fire. Men in dreads and thick sweaters tap their drums  softly, in a rhythm as steady as Mother Earth's own heart. Slowly, emerging from the darkness, we gather on the road.

The drumbeats

tap out

the heartbeat

of the earth mother.

Leaders give us our instructions: when they come, with their big trucks, their blowhorns, their injunctions, we will block the road. When they tell us to clear the way, we have a choice: we can move to the side; those willing to be arrested can remain. We are to be peaceful and respectful; this is a non-violent protest. We are as strong and steady as the trees we stand for. Our hearts are full: of fear, of solidarity, of love and passion for Mother Earth.

The drumbeats

tap out

the heartbeat

of the earth mother.

She is listening.

The trucks roll in. The police read the injunction. They tell us to clear the road. Some of us do. Many, many, do not. They sit down on the road. They link arms. The police move in. To our tears and applause, the Protectors are dragged off by arms and legs, to the police van; they are going to jail. We are weeping, outraged, joyous and fulfilled. Together, we are powerful. These are the most passionate mornings of my life. I was born to stand there on that road, for the trees, against the insanity of corporate greed, which lays waste the world to fill its coffers.

The drumbeats

tap out

the heartbeat

of the earth mother.

Her need is urgent.

Tomorrow morning, we will come again. All summer, we will come. It is the Summer of '93: the time is now.Time to say No More Clearcuts, No Jobs on a Dead Planet. This hour, today, we have delayed the carnage by a few hours. We are making it difficult for them to cut as many trees today.  We have shone an international spotlight on the logging practices in Clayoquot Sound, pristine old growth heritage trees, the lungs of our planet, being pulped for toilet paper and phone books, waste and carnage left behind on the devastated and stripped mountain slopes.

The drumbeat

taps out

the heartbeat

of the earth mother.

She is crying.

Thousands will come, from all over the world, to join us on the road. In the greatest incidence of civil disobedience in B.C.'s history, over 900  human beings will be arrested for standing on the road for the trees. Eventually, the multinationals withdraw. Clayoquot Sound is declared a Unesco Biosphere Reserve. But now it is 2011, and the trees are  in danger once more. Will those who care about the future ever be heard, against the clamor of capitalistic greed?

The drumbeat

taps out

the heartbeat

of the earth mother.

And now she is angry.

[Lynn Thompson Photography

Union Bay, B.C.

Clayoquot Blockade #92]

(Note: This is Sally Sunshine. The year after this photo was taken

of her on the Kennedy River Bridge, during the blockades,

sadly Sally fell from a deck and was paralyzed.]