The International Fund for Animal Welfare
Today's sermon is a world
that has turned away from the path -
the dream now a nightmare,
bombs falling on civilians, shooters with
assault rifles at a Fourth of July parade.
Today's sermon shakes its head;
its heart hurts. We are meant to be
better than this, it says, as it
turns off the news.
Today's sermon is the terrified dogs
in Ukraine, trembling as the bombs fall,
starving, looking for food and a safe place
in this unimaginable hell.
in this unimaginable hell.
Today's sermon is the few brave people
who stayed, who opened rescues,
and are trying to save
and are trying to save
as many as they can.
Who ever dreamed a planet at war
and in turmoil? God gave us a garden.
And now it is bleeding. Because of us.
Today's sermon is geraniums and petunias
not doing well in their pots. The weather
has been spotty, sometimes too hot, mostly
not enough sun. The soil must not be rich.
Yet they grow bravely, in spite of falling
petals and shriveled-up buds. They have
no choice. They were planted; the message
is to grow.
Today's sermon is an overcast sky and
a tired old woman, growing ever more silent.
She Becomes the Observer. No more
does she believe the transformation
of consciousness will come in time.
A sunny optimist has become a fatalist.
Humans learn the hard way.
It was ever thus.
Today's sermon is the last three reports
on the morning news: the Great Salt Lake
is almost completely dry due to drought,
and tens of thousands of birds
who depend on it as a feeding ground
will die during their migration.
There is flooding in Virginia,
and a wildfire in a forest
of Sequoias.
of Sequoias.
What is a poor human to do
with this knowledge? She can write
a poem. She can turn off the news
and walk on the beach, where
the song of the waves will ease
her worried mind. She can remember
standing in the redwoods as a child,
those gigantic trunks, with her parents,
whose beauty and pain and struggles
haunt her still.
Inspired by Wild Writing with Laurie Wagner, where the poem was "Today's Sermon Is" by Cheryl Dumesil. Shared with earthweal's open link.
Yes, God made a garden and we humans have made a royal mess of it. I used to think that this country had learned something about tending a garden,but I see now I was wrong. Yes, the terrified dogs in UKraine. So sad. And the terrified people. I cannot imagine. There are floods and wildfires, as you mentioned. These are truly tragedies, but we humans have brought so many tragedies that it is impossible to innumerate all.
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