More afraid of us, with good reason,
than we are of him, he crouches,
assessing the level of threat.
Okay, Pussycat, we're going.
This man is wise in the ways of the wild.
He carries only a camera, not a gun.
He leaves hastily upon encroaching
on a wild one's habitat.
Respect.
When wild creatures look at us,
I can see our betrayal of them
in their wary eyes.
The Two-Leggeds are heedless,
and we are everywhere.
There is no rain this fall.
Not enough water in the rivers.
Thousands of dead salmon litter the riverbanks.
Because we like our big trucks and cars
and can't connect the dots.
Humans need houses and more and more
and more land. Voracious, we grab it all,
the dominant arrogant species,
who refuse to hear the voices of the wild,
and so will one day finally realize:
we are all nature's creatures,
and will share the wild ones' fate.
And sharing with earthweal's open link.
Perfectly said, Sherry. I HATE IT how people just have to develop and take over every square inch of everything, with no thought or acre for animals, birds, and plants and trees, or the fact that we are all connected.
ReplyDeletecare, not acre
DeleteWhen you've done everything to keep land Green and healthy for fifty years, and somebody wants to move in and build a Wal-Mart...
ReplyDeleteArrogant. Yes we are. You tell it like it is, always ....
ReplyDelete"we are all nature's creatures,
ReplyDeleteand will share the wild ones' fate" Yes for sure.
When wild creatures look at us,
ReplyDeleteI can see our betrayal of them
in their wary eyes
Too true. Your poem delineates the idiocy and self-destructive greed that governs us now, and perhaps always has, but now our ever-increasing numbers swarm the planet with our desire to have it all. I live on my little acre that once was out in the country, and watch the crackerjack houses going up all around me--not one to an acre, but a dozen. It's awful.
As Trudessa said the willow can only bend so much before it breaks....the fate of the world if it continues like this
ReplyDeleteOur sin is reflected in Their eyes -- we should avert our gaze in shame, but instead we build out our accusers.
ReplyDeleteThe writing's on the wall, isn't it, Sherry? Do you think there is any hope for us? The river at the back of my home looks dangerously swollen. How long can we swim against this destructive tide of our own making?
ReplyDeleteI had an encounter with a cougar driving on a deserted highway, he was standing on the side of the road as i approached. I will never forget that chance meeting.
ReplyDeleteThe big boxes are popping up everywhere and the animals have no place to go. There is a bear roaming around here. I hope he finds his way back across the river.
The wild should have remained just that. Wild. Our encounters there have left it, and us, worse for the engagement. Truth here that bites, like a Cougars eyes.
ReplyDelete"I can see our betrayal of them
ReplyDeletein their wary eyes": something I'd never thought of, Sherry, but that intrinsic fear or aggression shows how broken our relationship to nature really is, how deep it goes. The imagery is expressively "eye-opening."
Heartbreaking.. as we encroach into their habitat, they turn up in urban areas looking for food and then are killed .. it's just crazy what's happening. Glad you're calling it out, over and over again!
ReplyDeleteWe have bobcats and cougars in Bend ... cannot imagine how much longer as my beautiful city is being 'taken over' ... developers are all about the money and I believe our current crop of politicians are as well. November commeth.
ReplyDeleteThis is such powerful truth. We take and take from wildlife, from mother earth, and are never satisfied. No wonder humans don't grow trust in any living creature.
ReplyDelete