Sunday, January 12, 2014

EARTH GRIEF

google image


"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


17 comments:

  1. to rail against corporations and world leaders.. is not getting any significant results... as much as the protests keep yelling.. until you change the mindset of what is a consumer society it won't change... we use and throw away much of it on what ever the latest fad or fashion is...the world has to slow down the MORE ,BIGGER, .. before any progress is made

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    1. This is very true, Robert, and is the crux of the matter. Until the multinationals feel the pinch in their pocketbooks, not much will change. Thanks for reading.

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  2. I don't know the answer and haven't the power to govern anything except my own thoughts and actions...so I'll continue doing that.

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    1. That's what it boils down to, kiddo. We can vote with our actions....

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  3. It's obvious that you thought your ideas out thoroughly here, Sherry.

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    1. Yes, I have a lot of earth grief and sometimes it just has to come out.

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  4. i love this, you drive such an important message home! lovely writing, great message!

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  5. Awesome Sherry, I can feel the Earth's Grief and your grief. I love this:'
    "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."
    If only, people could understand and feel this truth things could change, though like you said it may be that the earth has to be free of us first to right herself as it will take some form of revolution for the money to go where it needs to to bring about real change. Thanks so much for participating in Dungeon Prompts. I am honored.

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  6. Very frightening but real. And very poetic. I don't know if we'll be left though. Hard to get people to pay attention. Thanks, Sherry. K.

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  7. powerful piece sherry...oy...here because we have the strength to bear what is coming...is it coming no matter what we do? are we beyond the point...i wonder at times if we are...lots of shock and awe in this but not over the top or senseless...its a reality...

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  8. such a great powerful write ... and you have sent such important messages home ... kudos! ... and a happy new year to you my dear. hugs.

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  9. Let us refuse to despair

    ALOHA from Honolulu
    Comfort Spiral
    > < } } ( ° >



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  10. Very true. This earth is a beautiful gift and it is our duty to take care of it and yes it needs a revolution.

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  11. sad photo, sad truth ~

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  12. we need to keep emphasizing how we are imposing this portentous future to our human grogeny. they deserve more than just an album of pictures of how life on earth, nature, used to be

    we must all scream and yell out our concerns vs quietly lament

    gracias mi amiga. I am much pleased to walk beside you

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  13. Great piece! It is starring us in the face.

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  14. Wonderful. So well written.

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