In My Next Life, I Will Be a Wolf

source: Huffington Post

In my next life

I will be a wolf.

I will run like the wind,

if there are still

forests to run through.

I will feed my young,

if there is still prey to be found,

and will keep them safe,

if protected spaces

still exist.

In my next life, I pray

I am not running through

an apocalyptic landscape,

paws burning,

cubs crying in distress,

falling behind.

In this life, 

a member of the species

that destroyed the earth,

the most dangerous 

and unthinking species alive,

in my next life,

for my penance,

I will be a wolf,

running through

a burning, apocalyptic

landscape,
paws and heart on fire.

As always, I think of the animals, who do not have the resources we humans do, who are suffering the results of climate change, in floods, storms and wildfires. Mother Earth is crying as loudly as she can, yet we are not mobilizing fast enough to assist her in her distress.