Gaia's Lament
When am I to be free of men?
Feel the breath of the stars again? Welcome again a crystal sea To pulse and rhyme with the heart of me? Men are piercing me for my oil, Scarring me with their pits and spoil, Torching the trees that make the air, Spreading their poison everywhere. The fading life in my ocean feeds On deadly invisible plastic beads. These will return to choke the men Who foul the air and the waves - but when? I whip and I whip their selfish hide, I spin the winds, I churn the tide, I crack the cities with men inside For all the loveliness that died. When will the polar snows return? When will the jungles cease to burn? When at last will the only roads Be the secret tracks of elk and toads? I long for the day Cheyenne and Sioux Can do again what they love to do, Buffalo graze on a bracing plain, Waters flashing with fish again. When will the billions learn to be Grateful, careful and kind to me? When will they honour the Earth, their mother? I die - they die. They have no other. Every battle between my sons Has wounded me with the bombs and guns. Oh friendly meteors, aim for me And put me out of my misery! The slums and towers will all be dust, Ambition will end in bone and rust; Shocked souls will cry for pardon - then I shall indeed be free ... oh, when? |