To Mother Nature
by Salamantis
Dear Mother, I've awakened and I'll never sleep again;
I stand ashamed and shaken by all we've done and been.
I'm sorry for the way we live and the thoughtless things we do
But I dare not ask you to forgive while we're still harming You.
We act as though our dealings here escape all consequence
Or as if we're lacking feelings, and haven't any sense.
Unseeing and uncaring, we wend our heedless way
As if the gifts You're bearing were replenished every day.
You gave to us Your everything; the land, sun, sea and wind
And every green and growing thing: frond, feather, fur and fin.
Each yawning bloom a chalice grown for butterfly and bee;
Each leafy spire a palace home to wren and chickadee
And bud and blade life's breath exchange with grateful lung and gill
As sun-warmed ocean vapors range to rain on thirsty hills.
So seamlessly together Your myriad features blend;
Each offers others tethers and on others yet depends.
Too complex to be understood, too deep to be retrieved
We know not which unraveled strand might sabotage the weave.
Yet still we stripmine through Your soil and graze You bare for beef
And send our tankers single-hulled to brave the berg and reef.
We kill our kindred species, douse Your trees with acid rain
Spew our sewage in Your seas and shred Your ozone screen
While we plasticize our landfills and smogrify the air
And clear-cut Your last forests as if we don't need them there.
We swaddle You in asphalt as our greedy foul our nest
And reap our crop of bitter fruit we've poisoned free of pests.
But we are tainting our own well; it's at Your breast we nurse.
Those who their own foundations fell shall find themselves accursed.
We can no longer run and hide nor turn our troubled gaze aside
Nor sleep as if we had no cares; our Mother's cries are everywhere!
It's time we stopped and made a stand; do what we must, try what
we
can
And pray we somehow can undo the dreadful wrongs we've done to
You.
>From [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sun Aug 30 00:42:23 1998
Date: Sun, 30 Aug 1998 14:42:09 +0800
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: bunny <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: Eco and Nature poem and feminist empowerment poem
A plea to Nature
I call on sun and wind and rain,
to put the Earth in order again.
I call on scientists to stop
genetically engineering the crops.
For those subjecting animals to hell,
to stop the slaughter houses as well,
and of people to multiply much less
to relieve the Earth of overpopulation stress.
For mankind to return the earth to a time
when peace and harmony reigned devine,
and greenhouse gasses were unknown,
as across the world mankind did roam.
If mother nature, you here my plea,
and return the bounties to the sea,
I will try to spread the word
that overfishing is absurd.
Please give us all a second chance,
and allow us your beauty to enhance
with human children born to know
to respect nature as they grow.
End.
November 1997 Marguerite Wegner
******************************************************
Waterfall
Climbing upwards along a path,
Surrounded by bush and humming bees,
I hear the calls of native birds,
Echoing through the trees.
The path ambles upwards,
Along the side of a hill face.
In the distance a faint roar,
Overshadows the sounds of the bush.
Crossing a small stream,
Of fresh clear water,
The air becomes crisper,
As the path meanders upwards.
The roar of rushing water,
Careering over rock,
Fills the air and the path is no more;
Its place taken by a rocky outcrop.
And my eyes follow the water,
Rushing forward over the cliff face,
Falling hundreds of feet,
To continue its journey towards the sea.
I marvell at the splendour of nature,
And this glorious sight of unbridled power,
Of hope and nourishment for all the wetlands,
That lie ahead of the river below.
For half of the year this waterfall,
Is but a trickle in a dry land.
With the coming of the rain,
The stream and the gully take on new life.
Bird calls fill the air,
And green tips appear on trees,
black from a fire last Summer.
I'm sure I can smell the water.
Mesmirized, I could stand for hours,
Gazing down over the valley below,
And into the distance where the city sleeps,
On this lazy Sunday afternoon.
This place may have special significance,
To the Aborigines, perhaps its a sacred place.
I feel the Creator looks upon this waterfall,
Smiling at the wonder of his work.
I savour the sight of the waterfall,
Fuelled by the water from the stream,
Swollen by winter rains.
Later, the waterfall will become a trickle again.
Pondering on the last two years of my life,
Tumultuous like the Winter stream,
I draw new strength from the life-force of the water fall,
And take comfort in the renewal of life around me.
For like the Winter waterfall,
Life fluctuates between extremes,
Of slow times and rushed times,
Of times to act and times to dream.
End.
By Marguerite Wegner
(Perth, Western Australia)
August 1997
*******************************************************
A poem for Lorraine
Rising from the ashes
of a tumultuous life's problems
with the partner who held you captive
now far removed from your world.
The phoenix spreads her wings
and flies towards the enticing flames
of a passion once buried deep
and deliberately forgotten.
The path that lies ahead
riddled with pot holes and detours
but surrounded by perfumes
and wonderful sights and sounds
that enthrall the senses
giving hope of a future
that may heal past wounds
making you whole again.
Don't look back with rose coloured glasses
at the times that may have been
when your love of a wretch
made him appear worth the effort
of the sacrifices you made.
For you only tread this earth
for the term of your natural life
and precious time is already wasted.
Tolerate the past but embrace the future
and avoid the clawing hands of past ghosts
who seek to drag you hither into a chasm
where only a memory of sweetness lingers
mixed with suffering that no person could bare.
Be strong and watch out for those who might destroy
the life you seek where fulfilment is greater
than any monetary reward you could receive.
Soar high above those who would tie you
to the tree of normal human existence
for you have gifts that they would covet
and seek to hide from a world
slowly becoming devoid of beauty
and compassion for all creatures.
Complicit in destroying your destiny,
beware the dark and horrid creatures of this earth.
End
by Marguerite Wegner 27th March 1998
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