Apr 22, 2016 Free Verse, NaPoWriMo, Original Poetry
Written in response to The Daily Post’s Daily Prompt: Earth
Forgive Us Now … And at the Time of Your Death
©April 22nd 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
She bloomed
In the chaos of night,
In the clang and clamor
Of her birth-pains,
In the clash and clutter
Of planets forming,
Re-forming,
Dying, becoming moons
Or clouds, or dust.
She birthed
Microbes and giants,
And sea-things and air-things
And ground-things,
In a frenzied burst
Of lonely lust
Of love, perhaps.
Hostile space
Pressing down, down upon her –
An untamed sun,
A runaway moon,
Gas-giants in the distance,
And nary a friend.
She formed and re-formed
Herself, my sui generis
My Earth.
She, my mother,
Whom I love beyond all
Whose trees I worship,
Whose animals I adore,
Whose horrors I fear,
Whose gifts I revere,
Dies before our eyes.
Weep! Weep tears of blood!
Write pretty poetry!
Write paeans unending.
Write songs and ditties.
Dance for her,
Clear her air,
Plant more trees,
Halt her death,
Try!
Alas, you cannot,
You cannot,
You cannot.
Crumple down now,
Down on your knees,
Lift up your hands,
Cry!
Pray!
Ah yes, and do, please
Celebrate today,
Your Earth day!
Celebrate – and beg for
Her forgiveness.
This is the sin
I will own.
Forgive us all.
Forgive me,
O My Mother.
________________________________________
Also submitting this as my second Earth poem to NaPoWriMo:
Tags: #EarthDay, #OriginalPoetrybyVijayaSundaram, #TheDailyPost, #TheDailyPrompt
Apr 22, 2016 NaPoWriMo, Original Poetry, Rhymed couplets
Happy Earth-day – A Ragged Ditty
©April 22nd, 2016
By Vijaya Sundaram
Good day, O Earth!
Emerged at birth
With storms and light
And endless night,
You burst to life
From bloodless strife.
And then, life grew,
And plants all new
Arose and filled
Your carbon mill
With pure air sweet,
Until our feet
Tromped far and wide,
With steps of pride.
And now, a shroud
Of methane clouds
From humankind’s
Polluting minds
Covers your world.
Still, you unfurl
Your petals fair,
And everywhere
Life grows and blooms,
Grows old in gloom,
And dies in time,
While sunny climes
Burn stridently,
And frozen ones
Melt silently.
Perhaps, She’ll live
And She’ll forgive
Our transgressions,
Our aggressions,
Our ignorance,
Restore balance
And leave us out –
Without a doubt
The one mistake
She will not make
This time around.
(In shame we’ll drown.)
But still I walk
These shaded woods
And still I talk
With hopeful “shoulds”
And still I hear
The bubbling streams
While I ignore
My troubling dreams.
For time is short
And life will end
Make space for creatures,
Be Earth’s friend
Love all of life,
And all that’s here
May peace and love
This planet steer.
_____________________________________________________
P.S. Not my best poem, but I wanted to write one anyway.
(I’m a little tired, and need to sleep)
This is NaPoWriMo‘s prompt for Day 22:
And now for our (optional) prompt. Today’s prompt comes to us from Gloria Gonsalves, who also suggested our prompt for Day Seven. Today, Gloria challenges us all to write a poem in honor of Earth Day. This could be about your own backyard, a national park, or anything from a maple tree to a humpback whale. Happy writing!