Tahlequah, the orca who carried her dead calf
on her nose for 17 days, grieving, in 2018.
In 2020, she gave birth to another calf,
which survived. The warming ocean and declining
food sources are endangering the small orca
population off Vancouver Island.
After an oil spill, the mist above the inlet
is filled with the spirits of all of the animals
who have died.
Orca-, eagle-, heron-spirits,
hover over the ocean. They rest in trees
along the shore.
They carry a message for the people
of the earth: Wake up. Wake up to
Mother Earth's cries.
Heal her wounds.
After the wildfires,
the smoldering, parched earth
releases the spirits of all the animals
immolated in the flames.
They remain near the black, dead land,
near the horses' bones, the smoldering hooves,
near the deer, and rabbits, and wolves,
near the lives they loved and lost.
They hover near kangaroo bodies
caught in wire fencing,
swallowed by the flames.
caught in wire fencing,
swallowed by the flames.
After flood waters recede,
after the fires are subdued,
after the fires are subdued,
and all of the bodies
of drowned and incinerated creatures
of drowned and incinerated creatures
have returned to the earth,
the spirits of that place
sit vigil near the watery
or smoking graves,
or smoking graves,
praying we humans will awaken
to our mandate: to restore
Mother Earth to wholeness.
They carry a message for the people
of the earth: Wake up. Wake up to
Mother Earth's distress.
Awaken to all you can be,
all you can do,
to heal the Earth Mother,
the only home of
All Our Relations.
The idea for this poem came from reading Into Great Silence : A Memoir of Discovery and Loss among Vanishing Orcas by Eva Saulitis. Eva spent twenty years among the orcas of Prince William Sound, both before and after the oil spill. The animals she grew to know like her family are now vanishing due to the after-effects of the oil spill, the intrusion of human development into their wild habitat, and the warming seas of climate change.
I think the spirits of the wild must hover around the scenes of devastation, in mourning. I hate to contemplate their terror, fleeing flames and floods, and enduring famine.
Shared with Rajani's Climate Series. Come join this important discussion.
"horses' bones, the smoldering hooves," "kangaroo bodies caught in wire fencing" ... not enough is being said about the loss of wildlife, we tend to focus, if at all, only on human life and property. Thanks for sharing this, Sherry. As always, your voice rings clear for the protection of the planet and all its creatures.
ReplyDeleteIf only the people of the earth would heed the message and wake up!
ReplyDeleteThe images of animals suffering and dying because of the effects of climate change are indeed haunting. Sometimes being human is so hard. To bear witness - to tell their stories is an obligation now. Suzanne - Wayfaring Blog
ReplyDelete