This Month's Article

 

Abstract: This month's article in poetic style evokes the awareness that our planet is a living being. It not only supports our human life, but is, itself, alive. When the earthquake in Indonesia and the subsequent tsunami that it generated devastated the region surrounding the Indian Ocean, there was a great outpouring of humanitarian aid. Many people felt shocked, fearful and humbled by the great power of nature. While so many expressed compassion for those who suffered such upheaval and death, few expressed compassion for the earth who is our mother. Even the the references to "God's will" by religious leaders trying to comfort, or to "geologic forces" by scientists trying to explain, only serve to further distance us from the bosom of our life-giving planet and our responsibility to her.

 

The Wake of Disaster

You reminded us
that you breathe,
rebellious mistress,
that life lies beneath
the shifting civilizations
that adorn your skin like tattoos,
beneath the shanties and resorts,
bracelets of cheap trinkets,
around your oceans and wilderness.

You made us see
our lover untamed -
we expected docility,
like the peaceful face
of the child unclaimed
in the morgue,
her frail body discovered,
washed ashore
by gentle waves.

We'd like you to remain at rest,
a coy, tropical princess,
passive like that girl,
eyes closed, mouth unstressed,
no longer gasping for breath,
her blue bodice
draped over her stilled chest,
a calm, inviting sea
edged by a skirt of floral green.

We dug and raped
while you slept,
littered your valleys and hills,
built teeming cities where people
cling to life like vegetation once did,
but without roots anchored
in your fragile flesh,
we ignored your beating heart
and your delicate breath.

We say we love you
but not your moods,
as life bursts forth, renewed
with tempests, and floods,
your generous heart sustains
with volcanoes and earthquakes,
rocking us with a mother's rhythm,
to comfort, even as you smother
your dear, unsuspecting children.

© 2005 Richard Sidy