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I first posted this poem three years ago. Mother Earth had a brief respite under lockdown when the noise of engines fell silent and wild animals walked the streets and it seemed that nature just might have a chance. Now, even more, pollution spews and plastic continues to fill the oceans. The ice caps are melting even more rapidly and ‘freak’ weather events are becoming the norm. Today, Earth Day 2022, my poem resonates even more strongly.
Image credit: Mother Earth by gedomenas
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I first posted this poem two years ago. A year later, when we were under lockdown and the noise of engines fell silent and wild animals walked the streets, it seemed that nature just might have a chance, but once again, pollution spews, plastic continues to fill the oceans and the ice caps are melting even more quickly. Today, Earth Day 2021, I find my poem is just as relevant, maybe more so.
Image credit: Mother Earth by gedomenas
She
at one time
could have held
the whole world in her hands.
The wide oceans and the high mountains,
the hills, the valleys and the lakes;
the mighty forests
and sweetly painted flowers;
she encompassed all of her bounty.
The beasts both wild and gentle roamed
across all the fertile earth, free and fruitful.
It was paradise.
But then Sons of Adam and Daughters of Eve were unleashed.
They grew wise and strong; their numbers swelled. They spread.
And as their knowledge grew, so did their ambition.
Their need to abuse, oppress and exploit.
She slapped them down like the wicked children they were.
She sent earthquakes and tidal waves; war, famine and disease.
But still they persisted.
She tries to cling on, keeping it together for the good of the world.
But the children of the world press harder, mine deeper, defile and destroy.
And when she can no longer hold on to us?
What then?
What will
become
of us?
From a prompt by Hélène Vaillant of Willow Poetry
https://helenevaillant.com/2019/04/09/what-do-you-see-april-09-2019/
I remember The Time Before. The time before The Changes, before the bees died all over the world. Suddenly. All wiped out. It was that one dreadful year when things started to break down. Lots of things happened, but it was all about the bees.
We knew they were important.
We knew they were vital.
We knew they were vital for life.
Everyone had predicted it would be a catastrophe; but it turned out there was hope. There was a work-around; people with technology, scientists, biologists, cyberneticists. They had a plan.
They brought out the drones. Not the only-good-for-one-thing males of the bee species. No, these were machines.
But we didn’t realise that these tiny robots were more than just little automated pollinators.
Did you know about the waggle dance? The one a bee did to tell other bees where to find the good stuff. No? Well it doesn’t matter. What does matter is that the new drones, the cute little bee drones, have eyes everywhere. They’re watching us. So you’d better toe the line.
They don’t do a dance, but they do tell their masters.
They watch; their masters observe.
Their masters control. Your life.
Everyone had predicted it would be a catastrophe, and it was. But not in the way people had thought. And now nothing is like it was in The Time Before.
©2018 Chris Hall
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