EARTH GRIEF

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"Mother Earth feels your pain.
Let her feel your joy, too."
quote by my friend, Valerie Langer,
environmental activist

When you watch, 

on your tv screen,

Long Island and New Jersey

being swept away,

when earthquakes 

rumble off the west coast,

hurricanes sweep 

the eastern seaboard,

and tsunami warning alarms

echo throughout your town

at midnight,

when you pass logging trucks

hour upon hour

carrying away all the trees

we need to breathe,

and they tell us 

the ice and the tundra 

at the North Pole

is melting,

when you put together 

all the information

and come up with a reality

too frightening for words,

go ahead.

Feel the fear,

feel the terrible grief

that is guilt-based 

at our human assault

on the planet,

our greed,

our ignoring of the needs 

of future generations,

(our children and 

our children's children).

Feel your frustration 

at the multinationals'

Bottom Line,

which dictates 

all the rest,

and of world leaders 

who talk and talk

about the need 

to address global warming,

yet who never legislate 

the tough changes,

because re-election 

matters most.

As you watch the icebergs 

crash into the sea,

the polar bears drowning 

and starving,

the displaced black bears 

and hungry wolves

being shot because 

they came too near us

to look for food

for their babies,

as you watch the sea 

climb up over the banks 

and drown the towns,

as you feel Mother Nature's 

terrible dis-ease,

and hear the gray whale's

mournful song,

remember that Mother Earth 

is thanking you

for having the strength

to carry your grief.

Know that you are doing 

a service to mankind,

by helping to inform 

the global consciousness,

by being aware and able to

see clearly what most 

cannot bear 

to understand.

Remember, too, that 

no matter our fears,

we are, at this moment,

living on a planet 

full of beauty, 

mystery, creativity,

and wonder.

Be grateful for this gift.

Feel the joy of Now,

with all of its potential 

for transformation,

for grassroots Change.

Enjoy the daily panorama 

of visual beauty:

geese flying overhead

across a cerulean canvas,

sun glinting off a metal-hued sea,

babies' Buddha-smiles,

under our beautiful old round 

Grandmother Moon.

Let the beat of your pulse

join the rhythm of the earth's

own heartbeat,

knowing we are part of, 

and intricately connected to,

all of creation. 

Our pain joins the pain of

all of the sea of humanity.

Just so, our joy

carries us forth into tomorrow

on a tide of hope we can never

afford to relinquish.

Be grateful for being alive 

at this time of transition.

We were sent here because

we are strong enough 

to bear it,

strong enough to ride

the tidal wave

that will one day wash 

this planet clean

and allow it to, 

perhaps,

begin again.

Rather bleak, kids, and we must hold onto hope, recognize the grief but also embody the joy of being alive, right now, on Planet Earth. While all of the "discussions" about global warming continue, as to whether it exists, the news continues to report "natural disasters" weekly and, sometimes, daily.....tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, nuclear reactor meltdowns, extreme weather.............it has been already happening for years. 

My friends and I were talking about this stuff in the eighties (and everyone thought we were crazy!), back then we might have turned things around, had the world begun to right the imbalances then. 

The most hope I glean comes from David Suzuki's quote - it is too late to stop it, it is already happening, but we can do things to slow its progress. Of course, they talk about how much that would cost - and ignore the cost if we DONT, which is unthinkable. Switching to clean energy would provide employment for millions all over the world.......tough legislation (which leaders avoid as re-election matters more to them).........requiring the multinationals who cause so much of the pollution to  pay proportionately out of their billions of dollars of profit to CLEAN UP THEIR MESS.........there is a lot we could do. I know. There would be revolution and bloodshed before corporations would part with a dollar of profit.

Meanwhile, the Talking goes on, endlessly. As long as money is all that matters, we are doomed. But I refuse to live without hope. I do know, one way or another, the earth will endure - with us, or without us.

posted for Sreejit's challenge at The Seeker's Dungeon to address the topic of global warming: the price of civilization