EARTH GRIEF

google image

"Mother Earth feels your pain.
Let her feel your joy, too."
quote by my friend, Valerie Langer,
environmental activist

When you watch, 

on your tv screen,

Long Island and New Jersey

being swept away,

when earthquakes 

rumble off the west coast,

hurricanes sweep 

the eastern seaboard,

and tsunami warning alarms

echo throughout your town

at midnight,

when you pass logging trucks

hour upon hour

carrying away all the trees

we need to breathe,

and they tell us 

the ice and the tundra 

at the North Pole

is melting,

when you put together 

all the information

and come up with a reality

too frightening for words,

go ahead.

Feel the fear,

feel the terrible grief

that is guilt-based 

at our human assault

on the planet,

our greed,

our ignoring of the needs 

of future generations,

(our children and 

our children's children).

Feel your frustration 

at the multinationals'

Bottom Line,

which dictates 

all the rest,

and of world leaders 

who talk and talk

about the need 

to address global warming,

yet who never legislate 

the tough changes,

because re-election 

matters most.

As you watch the icebergs 

crash into the sea,

the polar bears drowning 

and starving,

the displaced black bears 

and hungry wolves

being shot because 

they came too near us

to look for food

for their babies,

as you watch the sea 

climb up over the banks 

and drown the towns,

as you feel Mother Nature's 

terrible dis-ease,

and hear the gray whale's

mournful song,

remember that Mother Earth 

is thanking you

for having the strength

to carry your grief.

Know that you are doing 

a service to mankind,

by helping to inform 

the global consciousness,

by being aware and able to

see clearly what most 

cannot bear 

to understand.

Remember, too, that 

no matter our fears,

we are, at this moment,

living on a planet 

full of beauty, 

mystery, creativity,

and wonder.

Be grateful for this gift.

Feel the joy of Now,

with all of its potential 

for transformation,

for grassroots Change.

Enjoy the daily panorama 

of visual beauty:

geese flying overhead

across a cerulean canvas,

sun glinting off a metal-hued sea,

babies' Buddha-smiles,

under our beautiful old round 

Grandmother Moon.

Let the beat of your pulse

join the rhythm of the earth's

own heartbeat,

knowing we are part of, 

and intricately connected to,

all of creation. 

Our pain joins the pain of

all of the sea of humanity.

Just so, our joy

carries us forth into tomorrow

on a tide of hope we can never

afford to relinquish.

Be grateful for being alive 

at this time of transition.

We were sent here because

we are strong enough 

to bear it,

strong enough to ride

the tidal wave

that will one day wash 

this planet clean

and allow it to, 

perhaps,

begin again.

Rather bleak, kids, and we must hold onto hope, recognize the grief but also embody the joy of being alive, right now, on Planet Earth. While all of the "discussions" about global warming continue, as to whether it exists, the news continues to report "natural disasters" weekly and, sometimes, daily.....tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, nuclear reactor meltdowns, extreme weather.............it has been already happening for years. 

My friends and I were talking about this stuff in the eighties (and everyone thought we were crazy!), back then we might have turned things around, had the world begun to right the imbalances then. 

The most hope I glean comes from David Suzuki's quote - it is too late to stop it, it is already happening, but we can do things to slow its progress. Of course, they talk about how much that would cost - and ignore the cost if we DONT, which is unthinkable. Switching to clean energy would provide employment for millions all over the world.......tough legislation (which leaders avoid as re-election matters more to them).........requiring the multinationals who cause so much of the pollution to  pay proportionately out of their billions of dollars of profit to CLEAN UP THEIR MESS.........there is a lot we could do. I know. There would be revolution and bloodshed before corporations would part with a dollar of profit.

Meanwhile, the Talking goes on, endlessly. As long as money is all that matters, we are doomed. But I refuse to live without hope. I do know, one way or another, the earth will endure - with us, or without us.

posted for Sreejit's challenge at The Seeker's Dungeon to address the topic of global warming: the price of civilization

Nothing Changes

[icebergs melting, from google]

Forest fires

melt the icebergs

that flood the prairies,

cities
under water,
people

mopping up

the mess ~

An Inconvenient Truth

occurring

on the
daily news.

Global warming,

happening

right now,

tundra melting,

floods and fires,

tornadoes

and tropical storms,

earthquakes

and tsunamis,

people trying

fruitlessly,

to staunch

the flow.

The canary

has long since

toppled off

its perch

and died,

from the exhaustion

of trying to

warn us.

And, still,

nothing changes.

Weather Report

[image from google]

Icebergs are melting,

crumbling into the sea like

icecubes melting

in a simmering

pot of soup.

Polar bears

are swimming for

their supper

as the tundra steams.

Shores are flooding

as the rivers

rise.

Forest fires burn

whole towns

and cannot

be stopped.

Before summer

even begins,

crops dry up

where farms

have slowly turned

into deserts.

The planet is melting,

it's burning up,

and nothing changes.

DAILY REPORT

NASA photo: Save The Earth

DAILY REPORT
August 16, 2010
(warning: depressing)

Thousands of forest fires,

burning across Russia,
after an unprecedented heat wave,
are responding to a freakish cold front,

bringing rain.

300 fires still burn all over BC.

It is 36 degrees Celsius
most of the day.

Anchor desks report
each summer is hotter

than the one before,
(as if we don’t
already know.)

In Pakistan, the worst floods

in the country’s
recorded history
have washed away
160,000 square kilometres,
leaving two million homeless.
(My mind stops.

Two million???

Homeless????)

Ten indicators show

seven of the earth’s 10 systems
are warming while three,
glaciers, snow melt and ice,
are declining.

Oceans are under threat.
Marine algae (phytoplankton),
the basis of the food chain in the ocean,
and producing half of the earth’s oxygen,
have declined 40 percent since 1950
in the northern hemisphere.

The world’s scientists say
they have undeniable proof
that global warming exists.
(Well, DUH!)

91% of Canadians,

some of the world’s

most privileged people,

have detectable levels

of A(BPA),

an industrial chemical

used to make plastics.

Scientists say that by 2050
nanotechnology
will need to develop
artificial food
to feed the world’s

population.

More Research and Studies

and Talking

are needed

(because that releases one

from the obligation of

Doing Anything.)

The Taliban have stoned

a young couple to death

for the crime of

falling in love.

Israel and Palestine have
each forgotten
that across both sides

of a man-made

and disputed border,
a line in the sand,
live human beings

with beating hearts
who long to live in peace.

In Africa,
everyone is dying
as the world collectively
turns its head aside.

Governments continue to be slow to act.
Afraid of the global money interests,
they do not legislate
the urgent and tough

restrictions
that are needed

at every level of life
on this planet.
The multinationals continue
to rape and pillage,
Profit coming before
basic decent human values
and even the survival
of our species.

I think of my grandchildren’s children
and the world they will be living in,
as I wait for more ice to melt,
for the water level to rise
all along the western seaboard,
wiping away
life as we know it.

I feel like the frog

in the pot of water
that is slowly heating up.
My brain goes numb.
A message arises
in front of my mind’s eye:
does not compute
does not compute
System overloaded:
Insufficient memory
to store this information.

The entire planet
needs to reboot.
Stay tuned: more flash floods
and soul-daunting news
to follow.

Close Encounters of the Furry Kind

photo credits: http://www.bing.com/

On the news yesterday: two campers, asleep in their sleeping bags some miles outside of my town on Vancouver Island, were attacked by a black bear and injured quite severely. This is rather amazing news. We hear now and then about grizzly attacks farther north, and more frequently cougars are spotted up and down the Island. But we often encounter black bears in the woods. I have a resident bear that has lived at the end of my street for the last ten years and aside from getting into our garbage every now and then, poses no threat, he keeps out of our way when we are walking our dogs through the trails.

When we come face to face or within sight of a black bear, what is usual is for the bear to turn and lumber away into the forest, giving us a wide berth. To hear that one has attacked PRONE sleeping non-threatening humans is extremely unusual. I have to believe that a combination of factors is at play and, while I feel for the humans, I am very worried about the bears, and other creatures on this planet, who are finding their survival threatened by the apparently insatiable demands of our species.

The bear attacked the more seriously injured camper first and that man would have been a goner, except that the second man managed to extricate himself from his sleeping bag, grab his knife, flailing at the bear's nose, slicing it. then he grabbed a big rock and hit the bear on the head. This caused the bear to get sidetracked, turn his energy towards the second man. This man fought hard enough that the bear retreated, allowing him to load his injured friend into the truck. That is when he discovered his keys were in his pants pocket at the campsite. He had to go back for them, and the bear seemed ready to attack again. However the man got his keys and made it back to the truck, speeding his friend and himself to the hospital here in Port.

A search party went out to find and destroy the bear and that is the end of this story. Both campers appear to be going to survive the attack, with deep lacerations on their backs, and some injury to their heads.

My concern is the bigger picture: the planet that all of these creatures find themselves living on, where their habitat has been so decreased and encroached upon and their food supplies so decimated, that they are forced further and further into "our" territory in a search for food and survival. Clearcutting has not only removed much of their habitat - in North America, the multinationals cant log fast enough, in the most wasteful possible manner, in an effort to make their billions before the last old growth tree falls - but has contributed so seriously to global warming that everything on earth and in the sea is feeling the effect.

When will legislators be brave enough - (more concerned about the planet than re-election) - to legislate the tough changes that should have come thirty years ago? When will what is right be more important than profit?

Tune in next century. Forgive me for feeling jaded. At the same time I have to HOPE that the transformation of human consciousness on this planet will happen in time. We dont have much of it left. And we have children and grandchildren who want and need to live. As do the bears and other creatures of the land and sea.

Bears I have come across? Many, down by the river where the goldens swim in summer. On one outing a few months back, my sister Lori knew from droppings, and the way the dogs were acting, that a bear was close by. There is a resident bear in that forest along the river; we see him often and he always lumbers away. So she carefully peeked around a bush, to find herself staring straight into the face of the bear, who was ALSO peeking around the same bush! "Woo!" they both said, or words to that effect, and each beat a hasty retreat.

Once I was biking into town from Chestermans Beach of an early morning, on my way to work, when a bear lumbered up the hill at the side of the road and scuttled in front of my bike. "Whoo!" we both huffed, and carried on along our perpendicular routes.

Another time Stephanie and I were taking our assorted dogs - three or four in number - to Wickanninish for a beach run. As we were about to let the dogs out of the car, someone rushed over and told us to keep them in, a bear was on his way to us through the bushes. We got back into the car and the bear came right past us, hustling quickly, bothered by the baying of our dogs inside the car. We sat and watched to see what he would do. He sniffed around the RV's and all the vehicles till he stopped beside a small red compact car. There must have been food inside, because the bear stood up on his hind legs and ROCKED the car a few times, until the window popped out. Then he climbed right inside the car. I had never seen a bear do that before. I would have liked to see the face of the owner of the car, who was sitting inside the restaurant eating his dinner all this while. Or the face of the ICBC insurance adjustor when the man submitted his claim for damage to a vehicle from a bear.

When my uncle was young, he sold bread for McGavins. In those days he drove a zooty salmon and cream colored convertible and he had the top down as he traveled through the Rocky Mountains. The back seat was full of sticky buns and bread. On one of the mountain passes, traffic was stopped and backed up due to some closure or other. While Don sat waiting, a bear came along, attracted by the lovely smells issuing from his car. My uncle started throwing the bear package after package, bun after bun, to keep him happy enough to not come closer. He was very exposed, and there was no where to go to get away. He started geting nervous as the pile of buns disappeared, hoping traffic would start up before he ran out. Thankfully it did.

But my favorite story is the time my daughter and her then husband and young children came to Tofino for a visit. On their way, before catching the ferry, they stopped at Stanley Park in Vancouver, and took the kids to the zoo. They went to the acquarium and saw the whales, to the penguin pen to see the penguins, seal pen to see the seals, and the monkey pen to see the monkeys.

When they got to my place, Lisa and Len took Ali and Tyler on a boat trip to see the whales, while I watched the younger ones who were too little. They saw whales, and penguins and seals. When they came back, we went to Green Point where they played on the shore for a while. As we were coming back up the trail to the car, people stopped us and said there was a mother bear and two cubs on the trail. Lisa and Ali and Tyler, who were ahead of us, actually had to run back to us, they came so close to the bears.

The path finally was clear, we went back to the van and as we drove away I saw Tyler, who was then five, looking very pensive. I thought he might have been traumatized by the close encounter, but I think he was just processing.

Gently, I said "It's been a big day, hasnt it, Tyler?"

He nodded. Then he said, "Can we go see the monkeys now?"

In his mind, he had been to an Indoor Zoo and now he had been to a gigantic Outdoor Zoo. All that had been missing were the monkeys! We cracked up.

My friend, Paul, lived in a yurt on the edge of a high cliff in Clayoquot Sound, looking out to sea. Bears often visited and helped themselves to his foodstuffs. He hiked a great deal, in some very wild places and once I asked him, "Have you ever come face to face with a bear on your hikes?"

"Yes, I have."

"What did you do?"

He looked at me, assessing whether to tell me or not. Deciding he could, he smiled and said, "I sang to the bear!"

I was delighted. "I love that! What did the bear do?"

"Well, I sang a bit, and then he'd move a bit, and then I'd sing a bit, and then he'd move a bit, and after a while he moved across the trail and away, and we both carried on."

But that was some years ago and the whole planet is hotting up, in every conceivable way. Who will speak for the animals, who cant speak for themselves? My heart hurts for them. I know there are millions of humans suffering too, for many of the very same reasons. I hurt for them as well. But it's Slumdog Days for animals these days, and today, I am thinking of one bear who, like a resident of the East Side in Vancouver, has found life such a struggle, such poverty, such hopelessness, such hunger, that he just couldnt take it any more.

And now he's gone.