How do we mourn this long dying,
this voiceless goodbye from creatures
speaking only through their eyes,
who bellow their pain as shots ring out,
who flee wildfires on burning paws?
Yet we stay silent to their cries.
How do we live with the choices we've made
to live so high on the backs of others?
Fat people with too-full plates,
against starving children, starving mothers?
Bemused, we watch the icebergs melt,
polar bears toppling into the sea,
floods covering cities and towns,
people rescued, as animals drown.
The temperatures rise and rise again,
sun shining on a world in pain,
because of our love of oil, and ease,
because too many do as they please.
It is the animals who have my heart,
their voiceless suffering as they leave
a warning bell we do not heed,
a sorrow we'll forever grieve.
I think what saves us, in our grief,
is the shining beauty of Mother Earth.
Though we harm her by how we live,
still, like a good mother,
she gives and gives.
she gives and gives.
I live with one eye attuned to the peril
of a world in crisis, suffering, crazed.
The other eye looks to the sea and the sky,
gives thanks for the beauty,
dazzled, dazed.
for my prompt at earthweal: The Age of Loneliness, about the species we have lost and are losing, in a time of accelerated climate crisis.
Your heart witnessing all of this, is a prayer that I believe, is heard and felt by the departed ones. Thank You for lifting it up and for calling us all to add some words to it. Bless You Sherry.
ReplyDeleteOurs is a terrible fate, witnessing the loss, grieving the sight of it, with so little in our present to see as hope, as the real means of change. earthweal becomes a lonely wailing wall. A true response Sherry for a sad challenge.
ReplyDeleteA lonely wailing wall. I love that. I am thankful we have somewhere to put our grief - and such hope as we can muster.
ReplyDelete"this long dying"... that's heartbreaking.. that hurtling towards an end we know is coming because the drilling just won't stop. Fabulous as always, Sherry. And Brendan is right.. earthweal is a lonely wailing wall - so grateful for it.
ReplyDeleteHeartfelt look at reality. ....Sad......Rall
ReplyDeleteBeautifully put Sherry. You write so well of the pain and sorrow of living now while being so acutely aware of how the world could be... if only those in power would listen. Suzanne - Mapping Uncertainty
ReplyDeleteI was struck especially by the word "bemused"--if people are paying attention at all, they do probably see it as just one more viral image. When we are left with only ourselves, we will realize how much we miss.
ReplyDeleteFrom the first line through the last I can feel the sorrow for the earth and her creatures. You write from a beautiful place and that place is from your heart.
ReplyDeleteWe continue to give thanks even as we mourn. And its true, the animals do not cause the damage, yet they suffer the most, which is a huge injustice.
ReplyDeleteWe have to keep loving, seeing the beauty - or how do we have the strength to keep on? It's all so sad.
ReplyDelete"Fat people with too-full plates,
ReplyDeleteagainst starving children, starving mothers?" I am grateful that you have two eyes, dear Sherry! The beauty you share will remind people of future generations that we were once truly rich, not money rich.
"How do we live with the choices we've made?" That line really says it all.
ReplyDelete