“Such remarkable words conveying – beautifully, terrifyingly – the state of our world.”
—Barbara Graham, Author
Heaviness in my soul. Dread.
Apocalypse looming.
What are we doing to our Mother Earth, our only Home, to our brothers and sisters? Destroying so many beautiful and important birds, plants, animals, insects, sea creatures? Filling our precious, rare-in-the-universe Oceans with plastic junk?
Tearing gaping holes in the very web of life from which we come and which sustains us?
My heart cries out in agony watching this madness:
Why are we destroying ourselves?
Why are we scorching our Earth?
Are we mad?
Do we hate ourselves, our lives, so much?
TERROR!
I WANT TO FLEE
to some safe haven, but there is none. On our one planet, there is no “away,” no safe place, no escape from the eco-collapse we are creating with our industrial economy fueled by oil, coal, and gas.
And I am immersed in this life-way –
a moth struggling in a dark, oily web.
RAGE!
Now my mind wants to assign blame, demand change from the “oiligarchs” who are poisoning our water, polluting our air, destroying the web of life; the cowardly people sacrificing us all to political expedience; the deniers and those fomenting denial of the scientific truth. But they are not listening, nor do they care.
DESPAIR.
It’s too late. Too late!
How can we possibly turn this juggernaut around
in 10 years?
Lost. Lost.
Guilt and Grief
My town has not been burnt to the ground or washed away in a flood – so far. And, enmeshed in this oily web, I guiltily go on contributing to this disaster by continuing with my life pretty much as usual, as do most of us living in areas that remain unaffected for now.
Now my mind wants to defend, justify: I am doing something! I got a Prius, solar panels, 100% Green electricity.
But – I burn “natural (ha!) gas” to cook, keep warm, heat water. Use gas in my car. Buy things wrapped in plastic, cringing every time I throw something “out,” knowing that there is no “out” on this one planet of ours.
And I grieve for all the people suffering from climate catastrophes. I grieve for all the grace and beauty we humans have created – music, art, poetry, and so much more – which may well be obliterated.
And my heart goes on mourning for the beautiful, intricate, interdependent web of life and all the wonderful, sensitive creatures that are being destroyed.
One thing I know:
We will die with them – for
All Earth is One Life.
The floods, the fires, the storms are here now, harbingers of what is to come. Drought and famine are here. Floods of refugees. Madmen spreading war.
How can our so-called “leaders” think half-measures will do? We don’t have until 2040 or 2050 to make the drastic changes that are necessary.
Let us protect our only home, Mother Earth.
We must transform our society, our way of life,
our technology by 2030.
It’s now or never.
This presentation is from a referral from Elders for Climate Action.
Thank you Rahima for voicing what a lot of us are feeling in these times. The desperation and the need to move quickly and try to bring about the change that could change this thing around before it truly is too late. And I wonder also is this a sign of the collective unconscious of this planet at this time which is being reflected and what could have brought us to this point within ourselves. Why so much anger and hatred and greed.
Thanks for sharing my art and words, Charles!
Thank you for publishing this poem of doom, though the pain must be expressed. May we awaken before it’s too late to save some.