a tale of tails, tenacity, and tedium, as told by me, usually barefoot and bellowing

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Mother Earth Cries

I was there for the first Earth Day
A new modern idea
That lived before in all generations

Many people do not hear
As they toss Styrofoam and plastics
Thinking selfishly

Naming a day does not wake the world
We are a society of disposable madness
Appliances, computers, phones...

Some businesses think
There's an infinite supply
For their demand

Dad knew there would be A Silent Spring
Before Rachel Carson wrote it
We lived to prevent this death

My ancestor's from Ireland
Leaving the Great Potato Famine
Settled here

Native ancestors
Lived by the rule
Take one, leave two

No one knows but
My ancestor's did
And passed that down

We are just the caretakers
Our duty is not to destroy
But enrich the land

Recycle, reuse, repurpose, words
I learned at my grandparents' knees
It's our duty to continue

Mother Earth cries
For the loss, for the madness
That rules the world today

You can change that
Beginning now
Nourish The Mother

Or we may waken
To a silent world
A dead world

To only remember trees
bird songs, grass,
frogs and teeming oceans

A mere beginning
To death of Her/Us
Mother Earth cries
Written from my heat

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sad but true and eloquently expressed.

kaykuala said...

Mother Earth cries
For the loss, for the madness
That rules the world today

How true it is! Man has come to the point of destroying mother Earth not forgetting it is the only one we've got!

Hank

OmaLindasOldeBaggsandStuftShirts said...

I so agree with your thoughts. Thanks for a beautiful piece for Every Day. Linda

Far Side of Fifty said...

:) Reduce, reuse recycle! :)

Sherry Blue Sky said...

A sad and beautiful read. Your grandparents were very wise. Mine were too. I resonate deeply with this poem. Thank you for it.

Sanaa Rizvi said...

Oh Gail... this is so touching..!
Its a beautiful poem :D

We are just the caretakers
Our duty is not to destroy
But enrich the land

Hope we all contribute to taking care of Mother Earth... and so do our future generations..! Happy Earth Day :D

xoxo

Vandana Sharma said...

very apt and its high time we take care of our beloved earth

MadSnapper said...

perfect and this says it ALL... people who drink only bottle water have no idea they are covering the earth with plastic, billions of bottles and that is not all... most people i know do not recycle and we all must do it to prevent what you said here from happening.

21 Wits said...

Sadly she does, but I like to think that she sheds tears of joy for all of those that return her kindness. Yes, it's something we must teach well to our little munchkins, every single day. There's got to be hope, because how else will we and even a red Blue jay (inside joke from one of grandchildren) survive?!

Anonymous said...

Very heart felt, my friend. I understand.

C.C. said...

"Naming a day does not wake the world"---poignant words here, for sure!

LindaG said...

Fantastic poem, Gail. :-)

Sketching with Dogs said...

Eloquently put as always. It is so true, the sooner humans are extinct, the better off the planet and everything on it will be.
Lynne x

Eileen T O'Neill ..... said...

Gail,

The world has lost all respect for nature, each other and the world at large..Disposable societies tossing every out of fashion item, onto a heap. Food bought in excessive quantities and thrown away..I know the history of the Irish Famine. That west coast area of Ireland, has never recovered from such a loss of population and life. All unnecessary...We can only educate and hope that some enlightenment shines eventually..

Eileen

humbird said...

'Native ancestors
Lived by the rule
Take one, leave two' ~ I love the rule. Glad when good traditions passed to offsprings. Nobody wants to awake to silence...
Wonderful poem! Happy Earth Day!

Susan said...

You create power in this poem by weaving concern "Mother earth cries" with personal history and Irish lore. Pow. To know of the "silent spring before Rachel Carson"--to see the wisdom embedded from grandparents become necessary to survival on the brink of too-late! It is no wonder Mother Earth cries"! I must share this poem!.

Susan Kane said...

Beautifully written. Profoundly said.

Country Gal said...

Amen !! We all need to look after mother earth and her nature for there soon will be none ,for if we planted a tree or two each time we have taken one , if we take care of her land oceans and seas there will be plenty of beauty and life left for the future to see . Thanks for sharing , have a good day !

Old Egg said...

Wise words indeed. Sadly most of the world is deaf. It is going to be long, hard fight.

Linda Kay said...

Gail, a really good job with this for Earth Day. We do need to be more aware, don't we??

Truedessa said...

This was written with a voice of truth so sad about the littering and abusing of the land. Take only what you need and leave the rest. We need to be respectful of the land it is the only one we have.

Sumana Roy said...

"Native ancestors / Lived by the rule
Take one, leave two"...some tribes in our country still follow this but the hand of civilization is changing their younger generation too...sigh..

LilliStJohn said...

A good portion of ordinary folks see this quite clearly, however; the corruptness of the oil industry, mining etc and greedy businessmen have their own set of rules and its all about the fat bank account. They just walk away when they have destroyed the land, air and water?? Do you think they live in a galaxy far, far away, because they sure don't care about Mother Earth or Earth Day.

Anonymous said...

'We are a society of disposable madness' - there's no arguing with that !

Myrna R. said...

If I read this again, I will surely cry along with mother earth.

rallentanda said...

Learning at the ancestor's knee is the solution. Unfortunately not everyone's ancestors are like yours and mine...more's the pity !

Wolfsrosebud said...

well said... there is nothing new under the sun... but we can take responsibility for our foot prints on the earth

Susan Anderson said...

Simply beautiful. And true.

=)

Lynne said...

Mother Earth is crying . . .
I hear her and listen.
We each need to do our part. I am on a "no plastic bags in the land fills" campaign. Carry my own light weight bags into the grocery store. Every little bit helps.
Reduce, reuse, recycle . . .
Great piece Gail!

Gen Giggles said...

Sad and true words. But still hopeful.

janetld said...

I like your Earth Day poem. It's scary, the things we do to the earth.

We are just the caretakers
Our duty is not to destroy
But enrich the land

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