Friday, November 30, 2018

In Remembrance of Lost Species


Joanna, Chris, me and Elisabeth
                                                  walking for the wild things


photos by Joanna's talented daughter, Toby


We walked,
people of all ages
and a dozen big goofy, happy dogs,
from the fire, 

across the tombolo
to Ts'ix-wat-sats,
just before sunset.
“Despair is an indulgence,” 
Joanna quoted.
“Let’s set our minds towards hope.”
We walked, mindfully,
single file,
and I pondered.
I have been discouraged.
What could I bring back 
to the communal fire
that was about hope?
It came to me,
like the silver gleam
on the shining sea.
The shamans say
we are at a critical moment
in the evolution of the soul
of this planet.
As awareness of climate change
increases, we begin,
of necessity, to evolve,
(those of us who are aware 
and awake.)

This is, if we will it,
a transformative moment.
The people – we, ourselves -
can make the evolutionary leap
beyond those who are fixated on money.
It is within our power – our possibility –
to move with the winds of change
and create other ways of being
with the earth
than the old, tired ways of fossil fuels,
rich billionaires, despairing others.
The soul of our planet is on the cusp
of a Great Awakening.

The bad news:
Nothing will ever be the same again.

The good news:
Nothing will ever be the same again.


Our wonderful Poet Laureate, Joanna Streetly, organized a gathering at Chestermans Beach late this afternoon, to pay homage to the many species we have lost, and are still losing. We all carry grief over this, but Joanna urged us to hold onto hope. I do think Mother Earth needs our hope - and our action - as never before. I will post photos of our gathering as they become available. Meanwhile, here is what I wrote down when I got home.

P.S. I wrote "Pup" in the sand and drew a heart around it. In Memoriam.

Sharing this with the Poetry Pantry at Poets United - fine reading every Sunday morning. With thanks to Joanna, who inspires me.

27 comments:

  1. Wow!
    Bad news, Good news. Preach!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Sherry! It was awesome to see you xx And to see everyone. Tanya is already talking about "next year"

    ReplyDelete
  3. A wonderful poem, full of truths we need to remember!

    ReplyDelete
  4. To set one's mind towards hope is real hard work but possible. This is wonderfully inspiring. I can see you writing & drawing on the sand. Pup is forever inside your heart.

    ReplyDelete
  5. So true - nothing will ever be the same again. I hadn't thought before of the fact that this is both good AND bad news. Very touching that you wrote Pup's name in the sand. We have to keep our memories....AND our hopes.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Right now, we need for things to stop being the same... even if the change implies losing some of the good with the bad. There is just so much bad.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Oh, Sherry. The world is full of good news and bad. I'm sure you remember back to our childhood just as I do, when despair hadn't entered the equation. Now we have to help others get up out of despair and out into the light of a new tomorrow.
    K

    ReplyDelete
  8. Oh, I wish I could have been there~ What an impact you all have made! Pup was there with you and I love that you honored his memory! This is so, touching both the act of many and your poem~

    ReplyDelete
  9. Great poem and manifesto for hope in the Anthropocene. I know despair is fruitless but the broken heart of it goes so deeply. Maybe my wires resound too wetly with the black depth, I "hope" not. Sure wished I could have joined you all on that beach. It's dark down here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I feel heartbroken to my soul, too, Brendan. But events like this - and the light that shines so strongly in this place where I am privileged to live - does help me hope - some days!

      Delete
  10. Oh this tugs strongly at my heart, Sherry. Life is that way we lose things which we hold dear and learn to move on with time. This is a beautiful poem.

    ReplyDelete
  11. You gave words to a wonderful coming together. I pictured myself walking too as a witness. More wakes and funerals for what is lost is called for, I believe.

    ReplyDelete
  12. What a wonderful celebration and remembrance! I find it easy to forget that hope comes from effort and from being able to appreciate what has been, not just what might be. Something to keep in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  13. “Despair is an indulgence,” wise words
    Thanks for sharing your walk of hope with us Sherry
    Luv the tribute to Pup

    Happy you dropped by my sumie Sunday today


    Much💜love

    ReplyDelete
  14. Sherry I love this one!!! The ideas, the people and the dogs!!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. This event and your words are so needed now....yes we evolve and so does the Mother, and we are inextricably woven together to save each other or perish together. Yes we must each make this important decision. Beautiful Sherry!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Actually it's not too bad to live with a less impact... of using the car as little as possible, of eating stuff that hurts the soil less and consuming less... all of those things makes us feel better... so we don't have to wait...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Those small choices do make a difference, dont they, Bjorn? we try to live consciously here in this village. It is one of the things I love - being surrounded by like-minded people.

      Delete
  17. This really touched my heart, loved it.

    ReplyDelete
  18. What a great thing to do and write about, Sherry! Setting your minds towards hope and walking! I love that hope came to you ‘like the silver gleam / on the rolling sea’.

    ReplyDelete
  19. A wonderful tribute. The act of walking single file sends quite a powerful message. Climate change needs more spotlights like the one you just took part in. Lovely.

    ReplyDelete
  20. There is something so authentic when people come together and march or walk in a spirit of reverence and change - and you're captured that wonderfully here, Sherry.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Bad news can also be good news. I love that message of hope in this poem!

    ReplyDelete
  22. What could I bring back
    to the communal fire
    that was about hope?... i love that introspection. But what i see around me is just apathy and self indulgence.. instead of awareness or fear or hope...

    ReplyDelete
  23. I dearly wish this was the case but the evidence is all around us that most nations leaders just don't care! Catastophic weather conditions don't raise a eyebrow but we must keep digging for coal and dumping rubbish in the oceans is OK as it will go somewhere else, and what's the point of all these wild animals if we can't eat them; their heads look far better on our walls.

    ReplyDelete
  24. you are right about 'nothing will ever be the same again.'
    one wonders if it is already too late. but the community's actions give us hope.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for visiting. I appreciate it and will return your visit soon.