Is this shame I feel, when spring comes,
as faithful as ever, small green things poking up?
The familiar miracle, even though we've not been wise,
The familiar miracle, even though we've not been wise,
Mother Earth spreading a banquet of beauty
before our eyes. Yet we take more than our share
and fail to hear our fellow creatures'
tears and sighs.
before our eyes. Yet we take more than our share
and fail to hear our fellow creatures'
tears and sighs.
At a rock cliff, down the street,
the other day, they were drilling it
into rocks, the big trucks
hauling it away.
the other day, they were drilling it
into rocks, the big trucks
hauling it away.
What's left looks battered, trees on top
with roots exposed. They soon will blow down,
and be gone. And yet, when I go close,
even now, I see earth trying to heal itself:
small green fingers clutching at shattered rock.
Mother Earth, even in shock,
still trying so hard to live,
still trying so hard to live,
showering us with all we need, and healing
what she can, after we've taken more than she
can safely give.
My chest grows tight;
I find it hard to breathe, in response
to half the forest coming down. The trees
are kind; they look at us with
questioning eyes,
I find it hard to breathe, in response
to half the forest coming down. The trees
are kind; they look at us with
questioning eyes,
asking how? and why? do we not hear
their anguished cries? There is a soft depression
under a cedar's bole; space for a fellow
creature to find shelter and grow whole.
I long to climb inside, pull a mossy blanket
over me.
Sleep for a hundred years, and then awaken
in a world that has learned better
how to be.
in a world that has learned better
how to be.
for my prompt at earthweal: Soundscapes
Humans are the stupidest, most selfish, and greediest of all creatures. We will take more than our share until the world has nothing left to give and then demand to know how this could happen.
ReplyDeleteHeart of those who love our Mother most are in for such a harsh season. Would that one could sleep and wake a hundred years from now and find wolves and trees and wind and sun and no humans ...
ReplyDeleteDifferent reasons East and West, but it's never a good idea to gouge into bedrock. One never knows what effects may be produced.
ReplyDeleteWhy aren't people more interested in rebuilding what's breaking down into ground already broken, is what I want to know. Plenty of room for construction work in a burnt-out slum!
"even now, I see earth trying to heal itself:
ReplyDeletesmall green fingers clutching at shattered rock.
Mother Earth, even in shock,
still trying so hard to live . . . "
As must we, dear, as must we. And still, we may reemerge/resurrect when the time is right. If we haven't found a life full of a wondrous non-corporeality. Beautiful poem.
The earth / nature / trees is so powerless to fight against the whims of humankind who are bent on destruction. Why indeed?
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the world will look like 100 yrs from now. Pull a mossy blanket over me and sleep until the turmoil ceases. As I see it, humans will not learn until it is too late. sigh...
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to believe anyone can thoughtlessly destroy a forest. They have to be truly alienated and totally disconnected from the living world.
ReplyDelete