the wildlifenews.com
*see note below
The chain saws shriek
on the mountain slopes,
leaving them bare.
google
With nothing to hold the earth,
the hillside gives way,
google
contaminating the water below
for humans and wildlife
to drink.
news.nationalgeographic.com
Mother Bear sleeps
in a clearcut
with her hungry cub.
forestforward.com
Mother Fox cannot find
enough food
to provide
for her babies.
google
They are taking the wilderness
away
in the back of a truck.
Hungry Wolf pads
alongside the highway,
no safe place to rest.
google
The multinationals finger
their fat rolls of bills,
with great
satisfaction.
Mother Earth weeps
in pain,
and then
the cycle
all begins
again.
*This clearcut is apparently around Sooke, a beautiful area on the outskirts of Victoria, B.C. Logging is STILL allowed to go on like this, unsustainably, exporting all the logs, which should be providing work for people at home, and without creating value-added industry, for more local employment. Just wholesale carnage at a great cost to the planet and the future. Notice all the waste they leave behind. This is criminal behavior, in my opinion. And the government allows it. In fact they give SUBSIDIES and huge corporate tax write-offs to the companies that do this. "Beautiful B.C." - that used to be.
Today, Kim's prompt at Verse First is : Reaction, and she gives us many possibilities, at the link at Poets United. This obvious one sprang to mind. Images that break my heart. Do check other links at Verse First, there are some wonderful offerings in there!
When will we learn? How many times must this be repeated?
ReplyDeleteThis is so sad. To jeopardize wildlife and our planet for money is so ridiculous. Once again, your writing speaks volumes, so well done.
ReplyDeletePowerful words and expressed so well. Mother earth needs to be protected and all that God has so lovingly created. Great poem that has a real message
ReplyDeleteThis brings tears to my eyes, Sherry. Beautiful BC, where I was born a third-generation British Columbian, and where I lived for more than 50 years, means so much to me — more than Alberta ever could, would, or should.
ReplyDeleteK
So very sad what humankind has wrought...I pray that we all wake up soon.
ReplyDeleteSherry,
ReplyDeleteI am greatly moved by those photograhs, which support your words so well. An absolute disgrace to see this deforestation taking place there as well. No impact consideration at all. Simply for swift money-making means...
Humans are so destructfuland without recourse to the lasting damage.
A great response to 'Reaction.' Sherry.
Hope all is good with you:)
Eileen
This is spot on, so sad and it hurts to look at this destruction, on all levels~
ReplyDeletesad this is happening with so much political will and subsidies in canada as well as the US- yep the elites are intent on a global pillaging everywhere
ReplyDelete..'tis funny how we react on tragic events like this not really realizing how mother earth reacts on the things we give to her.... when nature takes back something.. it replaces a new one, sometime, even more what has been taken... but we are too selfish for taking too much from nature without even replacing what we took back... and this and that are results... how can we escape if are guilty pleasure has already been revealed obviously to the world... ah... the photos, though i've seen many before, still saddens me deep inside my bones... really sensitive write.. sigh...
ReplyDelete..smiles...
Your reaction poem is perfect--in wording, in illustration, in questioning. Thank you. I have to share it.
ReplyDeleteBeautiful pics Sherry! But these give a jolt as to what they foretell. The greed of the exploiters subsidized all the more by the govt makes one sick in the tummy. So many wrongs can be seen that are blatantly committed. It's a pity that ordinary folks like us can only grit our teeth. Great thoughts!
ReplyDeleteHank
It is happening all over the world and nothing seems to be able to halt the destuctive juggernaut.We will all pay the price through climate change and natural disasters.
ReplyDeleteMy reaction: anger, sadness, helplessness mixed with a little despair.
ReplyDeleteMy sentiments exactly. It makes my spirit and my heart hurt.
ReplyDeleteWe, humans are pathetic, Sherry. We'll never learn...sigh!
ReplyDeleteThere definitely is a chain reaction when we strip our world of its natural resources
ReplyDeleteA sad but pertinent post
One of my favorite poems to the prompt on poet's united.
ReplyDeleteWe need to speak for the trees because the trees do speak, but not in a voice that human ears can hear.
It made me think also of these scientific studies proving that plants can feel emotion and communicate, measurable by objective means...it gives a human connection to nature but it makes the picture painted in the poem even more horrific ...but even before reading any scientific articles i cringe whenever i hear a chain saw
but this new knowledge makes me tread lightly in buttercup patches too!
We should all be aware when we have been taught disregard for so long.
Thank you for spreading the words of the trees and also the earth spirits :-)
Never lose hope; we are the stewards of this gift so given. We will fight the fight as long as we are living, Sherry!
ReplyDeleteFelt all these with you - and particularly liked:
ReplyDeleteThey are taking the wilderness
away
in the back of a truck.
Sherry, you know my reaction to these images: nausea. And fear for the pups and babes and... foxlets? (never could keep those baby names straight, ha ha)
ReplyDeleteClearcutting, sanctioned by the government. It's like the US, where a wetlands is seen by me not only as a peaceful nesting place, but an actual "kidney" for purifying rainwater... but seen by a developer as the PERfect place for a golf course or a WalMart. Ugh. But still, an excellent prompt answer! Amy