Pages

Sunday, March 27, 2022

When Mother Earth Asks Me a Question

 


A Gathering In Remembrance of Lost Species
2018

Each morning asks me the question:
how will you help me heal today?
Sign a petition? Send a letter to District Council?
Premier? Prime Minister? Marking it “Urgent”?
Plant a tree? Rescue a dog?
Write about the climate crisis?
Blog for peace in the Ukraine?

Meanwhile, there is a cup of tea
and contemplation of my peaceful rooms,
before I turn on the news and absorb
the day’s anxieties: war, bombing,
people and animals terrorized, a madman
with fingers itchy for nuclear buttons
- power run amok.

Then I walk out into the morning:
tend my tulips, admire the Japanese cherry,
all in pink. Say hi to the neighbour’s dog,
whose grin warms my heart, walk into
the rainforest and commune
with the nature spirits,
go to the shore and whisper a “thank you”
to the All-That-Is for such beauty,
and that I am still here.

My eyes lovingly follow the rounded tops
of the mountains circling the village,
chart the eagle’s flight; my voice returns
the raven’s throaty croak.

We are all visitors here.

The frogs are singing on
the Connector Trail, so
spring is in full voice.

We love where we are
and what we love we protect
and try to save.

War is still waging; there is
heartbreaking suffering.
Nothing is as it was in the world,
yet everything is as it was right here
where I am living.

How we live with that duality
is the new tightrope walk
- the tender-footed dance -
that we are learning.


4 comments:

  1. Living with the duality of reality is often difficult to do. How to walk that balance beam? It's hard for our minds to comprehend all that is going on in the world. Thankful, for the little joys in life.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Beautiful poem. We really have to think each day of how we can help the earth. Every small thing we do is important.

    ReplyDelete

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