Earth Grief

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I will speak for Mother Earth,
whose innards are  being fracked,
explosions underground
sparking earthquakes and unease.

I will speak for the oilsands,
earth turned into death zones,
and for the rivers
along the pipelines' routes,
the black death seeping in,
killing all in its path.

I will speak for the birds
covered in oil,
who have lost their song.
I will speak for the wolves
and lions and tigers
who are dying out
as they're trying to live.
I will speak for the whales
swimming in an ocean
of plastic,
a warming Toxic Soup,
and for the coral and plankton
that is already all but dead.

I will speak for the salmon
trying to survive and procreate
in polluted waters.
I will speak for the polar bear
ever in search of ice
and food.

I will speak for the forests
that are burning up.
I will speak for the topsoil
that is blowing away on the wind,
and for the pesticide gardens
bringing disease to the people.

I will speak for the animals
caged in pens too small
for moving,
as they eat and grow,
and wait to be brutally killed
and then eaten.
I will speak for the bawling calf
ripped from its bellowing mother,
taken away so humans
can have the cream.

I will speak for dogs chained
for ten years
outdoors in the cold,
their misery plain in their eyes.
I will speak for the voiceless,
the captive, the dominated, the abused,
who cannot speak for themselves,
to express their despair,
who are at the mercy
of merciless folks
who think animals don't have feelings,
because they never dare to
look into their eyes
and see emotion shining
so plainly there.

I have no power,
but I have a pen and a voice
to write out my
heart full of pain
at what humans inflict on Mother Earth
and all of her creatures
for monetary gain.

Though it eases
not one small creature's burden,
and Mother Earth is suffering
at hands more powerful than mine,
it is all I can do,
bearing witness,
giving voice to our shared
creaturely and planetary pain,
to our Earth Grief -
our soul's understanding that,
if we continue as we are,
not much of earth
will remain.



posted for Elizabeth Crawford's Creativity Challenge at 1sojournal : Voice - to speak for those who have no voice. Note: today is Remembrance Day for Extinct Species. Latest statistics:
the number of wild animals living on earth is set to fall by two-thirds by 2020. Source

Standing Alone

photo by Lisa Barnes

He was crying in his hospital bed.
"Can I help you?" I asked.
"I'm cold. I have AIDS,
and the nurse won't come into my room."
"I'll get you a blanket,"
I said gently.
I brought him two and tucked him in.
Later, I was pleased to see the other nurse,
sitting by his bed, holding his hand,
laughing with him,
restoring my faith in human nature.

               *****

She left her marriage
because she was being abused,
but she was not believed.
Her church community went silent,
withdrew their support.
Pale and distraught,
she walked through her days alone,
being stalked and tormented,
and shunned by her community
at the same time.

           *****

She brought sexual assault charges
to protect other women
from what she had gone through.
But it was she
who went on trial.
It was she whose past was shredded,
whose integrity was attacked.
whose testimony was questioned.
In the end, he walked free.


         *****

Well, one doesn't have to look far when it comes to incidents of social stigma. Posted for Susan's prompt at Midweek Motif: Social Stigma.

I Will Stand For the Wildlands

collage by Jerry LoFaro

What will I defend,

in this topsy-turvy world,

setting off in a direction

we never expected?

I will stand for the wildlands

and its creatures, who are 

fast disappearing.

I will stand for their habitat,

being laid waste for dollars,

and for the dying whales

in the warming sea.

I will speak for the polar bears, 

swimming ten miles for a meal 

where the ice used to be.

I will wield my pen till my last breath

saying: "Please! Stop!

Take measure of what we are doing

to Mother Earth,

who is patient,

but who can't withstand, forever,

all the good we are taking from her,

all the bad we are dumping into her waters,

and expelling into her air."

I will defend the indigenous peoples' right

to exist, free from oppression, 

and corporate takeovers

of their sacred lands,

for they love and understand the land,

and we should be listening to them.

I will defend Mother Wolf

and her babies from harm,

as the helicopters hover,

and the men raise their guns.

I will stand for the wildlands,

the trees and the birds.

I will stand for the last of the last

wild creatures,

lion and elephant,

tiger and bear. 

As they pace their slow way

into history, I will sadly

and tearfully

wave them goodbye.

for Elizabeth Crawford's Creativity Challenge at 1sojournal: Defend: what will you defend in this current political climate?

I Oppose

source

You say build a wall,
and I oppose.

You say women
belong in the kitchen
and I oppose.

You say entire races of people
are bad and to be banished.
I oppose.

You say global warming
is a myth
and I most strenuously oppose.
(Do you know the first few floors
of trump towers
will be underwater
when the ocean rises?
The gold-plated ceilings
won't help you then.)

You say lies are truth
and some believe,
but I oppose.

You said the votes were rigged,
and I say maybe you
are the one who rigged them.

You say drain the swamp,
then you set loose the alligators.
Don't think I don't see them,
slithering through
the halls of power.
Don't think I am so ignorant
I don't understand it is
corporations and big money
that are running the world
into the ditch
for their own obscene wealth.
I recognize that now the system
will be even more heavily skewed
to benefit the rich,
especially you.

The working class wanted change
then elected a billionaire
who pays no taxes.
The people of Standing Rock
have little chance
when the president-elect owns interests
in the pipeline.
(Sorry, you will never earn
a capital P
from me.)

I try not to despair,
yet  feel we're screwed.
But with every fibre of my being,
every beat of my heart,
with everything in my soul:
I oppose.


For Elizabeth Crawford's creativity challenge: Opposition, a word I can definitely wrap my pen around.

This Poem

source

This poem is a soft thought in a hard week.

This poem is love for a struggling planet 

and all its beings.

This poem is a breathing space, 

to inspire our best hopes,

our deepest  dreams and aspirations.

This poem looks at the news and its heart hurts,

its stomach knots.

This poem knows this turning is going 

the wrong way.

This poem stands with 

the people of Standing Rock

whose voices will not be heard, 

will not be heard,

will not be heard.

This poem knows that none of our voices

are being heard.

This poem sees a magical planet

of beauty and abundance

being willfully destroyed by greedy corporations

who do not care.

This poem sees icebergs melting,

and whole species becoming extinct.

The ocean is dying, sending up last gasps,

in hope we humans might hear its distress in time.

This poem knows it may already be too late.

Yet, still, we must try.

For this poem loves every wave, every ancient tree, 

every bird and beast too much to give up.

This poem's heart hurts for every suffering being

struggling to survive on Mother Earth.

This poem takes a deep breath for it has a job to do.

Against all odds, it needs to inspire hope,

add something positive, something peaceful,

not add more distress to a heartbreaking mess.

So it closes with hope for humankind,

whose consciousness is awakening,

whose spirit is arising,

who is beginning to stand

against corporate greed,

against ignorant governance,

who is saying "This is wrong,

and I am standing for what is right and just."

This poem is a soft thought.

It is love.

It is hope

for a suffering world.

An adapted Boomerang Form, one of my favourite forms, created by Hannah Gosselin at Metaphors and Smiles. Posted for Elizabeth Crawford's Creative Challenge:   Inspiration, to write something that brings some light to these troubled times. Which I have always tried to do, but it is getting much harder these days. It is hard to be hopeful when species and oceans are dying, when the ice is melting, when time is running out,  and a racist narcissist who doesn't believe in global warming and species extinction is taking power. Sigh.

THIS POEM IS AN ELF, A GRANDMA AND A CUP OF TEA

This poem is a conclave of elves
This poem is a fairy tale,
told to a small child by her grandmother
This poem is a cup of my Grandma's tea

This poem is chock full of elves
clustered under a speckled toadstool in the forest.
They are hiding from a small girl-child,
peeping out from under the toadstool's rim
with eyes that winkle and shine.
This poem is a conclave of elves.

This poem is a small girl sitting in front of the fire
listening to stories, on long, quiet 

winter afternoons.
"Watch the blue fairies, dancing in the flames,"
her grandma says, and she looks,
and sees the fairies.
This story has no beginning, and no end.

This poem is a song sung by druids
in the springs and groves of a woodland dell,
as violet shadows lengthen at close of day.
This poem has standing stones in it, and ghosts,
myth and blarney from County Cork,
laced with a spoon of golden honey
in a shamrock teacup of amber verbena,
a cup of my grandmother's tea.

This poem is a conclave of elves,
winkling and shining in stories of long ago.
This poem is a fairy tale told to a small child
by a Grandmother who knew
small children need mothering.
This poem is a cup of my Grandma's tea,
in a time whose memory shines more brightly 

than today

* Celtic and Welsh meanings for the word druid are seers, and sorcerers. Poets may be numbered among this group. Smiles. They played an important part in ancient pagan Celtic society according to Wikipedia.

This poem from 2015 is (mostly) patterned after Hannah Gosselin's wonderful Boomerang Poem form, whose instructions can be found on Hannah's site at this link. Shared with the Poetry Pantry at 

Poets United.

The Hearts of Its Women

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"A nation is not defeated 
until the hearts of its women 
are on the ground."
Cheyenne proverb

My heart is with the women of Standing Rock these days, as the people make their stand against a billion dollar corporation, that places no value on human rights, sacred burial sites, or the drinking water of millions of people. All it sees is oil and dollar signs. The ancestors prophesied this Black Snake would come, and here it is, threatening the survival of every living thing in its path.

The heavily militarized police are defending the corporate criminals, who have not complied with the law requiring a complete environmental study, (because they know the project would not pass the criteria). And, once the oil is flowing, it will be shipped to China, benefiting not one North American, at the possible cost of the water which now serves millions. It boggles the mind. But it will fatten the purses of a few billionaires. The police are backing the wrong group.

The women - mothers, grandmothers, daughters - are rising, saying "Enough is enough." The fight between money/greed and those who wish the planet to survive has reached the point of no return. There is no giving up or giving in, when it comes to the survival of Mother Earth in a livable state. And so they brave the cold, the water attacks, the tear gas, the rubber bullets. They are not standing only for themselves. They are standing for us all. They know that water is life, that oil brings death, that we are connected, on this planet, with every other living thing, and what happens to one happens to us all.

They are standing for us all at Standing Rock, true hearts that know money is not the only thing that matters, at any cost. And my heart is standing with them.

I have been unable to upload this short video about the women of Standing Rock, but this is the link, and it is so worth watching.

I am posting this for Elizabeth  Crawford's challenge at 1sojournal: Meaning. There is so much meaning in the stand the people of Standing Rock are taking. If I had health and money for gas, I would be right there standing with them, for they know the meaning of life, and how to live on Mother Earth with respect. All My Relations.