Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Poets United Midweek Motif ~Earth Day or Earthiness


“We stand now where two roads diverge. But unlike the roads in Robert Frost's familiar poem, they are not equally fair. The road we have long been traveling is deceptively easy, a smooth superhighway on which we progress with great speed, but at its end lies disaster. The other fork of the road — the one less traveled by — offers our last, our only chance to reach a destination that assures the preservation of the earth.” 
― Rachel CarsonSilent Spring (1962)



"Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it. Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself. The earth is sacred and men and animals are but one part of it. Treat the earth with respect so that it lasts for centuries to come and is a place of wonder and beauty for our children.” 
Extract from Chief Seattle.

“The Earth is what we all have in common.” 
http://www.earthday.org/2015




Midweek Motif ~ Earth Day
or Earthiness

Today, 22 April, is Earth Day.  On Earth Day we get "down to earth" ~ We pay attention to how to care for our planet more than one day a year.  I laughed at this "Wiki-How" article until I read it:  
How to Be an Earthy Girl: Love the earth and want to be more of an "earthy girl"? Here's some advice to help you achieve this naturally, and with a minimum of fuss.
Check it out HERE!  

Your Challenge:  Write a poem celebrating the earth, earthiness and/or attempts to help the earth live. Feel free to address only one aspect of the issue. 

Workers in Port-au-Prince
Workers in Port-au-Prince building rock walls and planting vegetation
as ways to save arable land and avoid flooding in lower areas.

UN Photo/Logan Abassi


For a Coming Extinction

BY W. S. MERWIN

Gray whale
Now that we are sending you to The End
That great god
Tell him 
That we who follow you invented forgiveness
And forgive nothing
. . . .
(Read the rest HERE at The Poetry Founndation

Untitled

by Al Gore


One thin September soon
A floating continent disappears
In midnight sun
Vapors rise as
Fever settles on an acid sea
Neptune's bones dissolve
Snow glides from the mountain
Ice fathers floods for a season
A hard rain comes quickly
Then dirt is parched
Kindling is placed in the forest
For the lightning's celebration
Unknown creatures
Take their leave, unmourned
Horsemen ready their stirrups
Passion seeks heroes and friends
The bell of the city
On the hill is rung
The shepherd cries
The hour of choosing has arrived
Here are your tools


by Mary Oliver
Here is a story
to break your heart.
Are you willing?
This winter
the loons came to our harbor
and died, one by one,
of nothing we could see.
A friend told me
of one on the shore
that lifted its head and opened
the elegant beak and cried out
in the long, sweet savoring of its life
which, if you have heard it,
you know is a sacred thing,
and for which, if you have not heard it,
you had better hurry to where
they still sing.
And, believe me, tell no one
just where that is.
The next morning
this loon, speckled
and iridescent and with a plan
to fly home
to some hidden lake,
was dead on the shore.
I tell you this
to break your heart,
by which I mean only
that it break open
and never close again
to the rest of the world.


(I lifted this poem from "Heartbreak, Violence, and Hope for New Life" BY PARKER J.PALMER (@PARKERJPALMER), WEEKLY COLUMNIST for On Being with Krista Tippett, I did not ask for the rights, I so wanted to use it with such short notice. Please forgive me. I love you.) 


#

For those who are new to Poets United: 
  • Post your Earth poem on your site, and then link it here.
  • Share only original and new work written for this challenge. 
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  • Please leave a comment here and visit and comment on our poems

(Our next Midweek Motif is Justice or Poetic Justice.)

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32 comments:

  1. Happy Earth day and thanks for the prompt...i suppose we took the earth root not the Earth route...but i hear good things can grow from the right kind of soil and dirt... ;)

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    1. I believe that good things can still grow from good seeds. I'm not sure I understood today's poem, though I am deeply moved by it.Happy Earth Day to you and everyone who can cherish our home base.

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  2. Woohoooo :D Its wednesday!!
    Moreover its Earth day! :D

    Wishing you all Happy Earth day :D
    Hope you like my poem!

    Lots of love,
    Sanaa

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Enjoy your earth today! Thanks for bringing the music.

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    2. Hey Susan,
      You too! Happy Earth day :D
      Umm I was trying to portray the dangers that Earth faces on a daily basis... by the help of that line in my poem... hope you liked it though :)
      xoxo

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    3. That is exactly what I meant. Brilliant!

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  3. Two (short) poems from the flower's perspective. I'm odd I know
    Happy Earth Day to each of you and thanks for this prompt to give us a voice Susan

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  4. Susan,


    Happy Earth Day...This is an emotive subject and one which should motivate the world and its inhabitants, to take more care of where we live...Sadly it's not always obvious..

    Eileen

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    Replies
    1. Poems are action, though, Eileen. You make it more obvious through the alluring ways you use words.

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  5. I wrote from the heart. Thanks for the prompt.

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    Replies
    1. I can tell this is straight from your heart!

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  6. My first time here, Susan, on Mary's invitation. I look forward to contributing each week.
    As well as the poem linked above, I have also blogged about Earth Day yesterday with a short prose piece:
    http://nicholasjv.blogspot.com.au/2015/04/earth-day-2015.html

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    Replies
    1. Welcome, Nicholas! I will try to get over to your Earth Day Blog when I catch up here. Thank you for leaving the link.

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  7. Happy Earth Day! Love the quotes and poems here, Susan. Thank you, learn the "How to be an earthy girl?" The Sun is On today, so let's celebrate!

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    Replies
    1. Beautiful poem! I'm glad you checked out "how to be an earth girl"! It's a great introduction to becoming one with earth. Your poem rocks the subject.

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  8. Good old Mary Oliver, as always, she just nails it. I have written a kazillion poems on this topic but did pen something new for today - I borrowed only the title from an old poem. The whale poem is devastating too. Have written on that topic as well. Happy Earth Day, folks. The good news is, we still have an earth!

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    Replies
    1. Agreed, Sherry. You make every day earth day and every poem a sort of celebration. Thank you!

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  9. I'll be back after a short nap, dear poets. I just had a spinal injection to decrease nerve pain and returned more tired than I expected. But I'll be back and reading soon. Keep them coming! I expect to feast later today and over the next 2 days as well.

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    Replies
    1. The day has turned from bright sun to pouring rain and thunder--with that much humidity no wonder I am aching. I'll be in and out over the next 36 hours enjoying these creations of your heart.

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  10. Happy Earth Day...though mine is a lament...thanks Susan for this prompt...

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    1. Yes, it does seem contradictory to say happy day and lament at the same time. Perhaps what makes the day happy is that we listen to the failures as well as the joys, the laments as well as the accolades. Only in the belly of that paradox can we care enough to act.

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  11. Blogger has eaten a lot of my comments today :( So, sorry for my silence but I have been reading and trying!

    https://claireylovelearns.wordpress.com/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It eventually shows you where they are hiding, Claire. Yours came through to my site. Thank you!

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  12. Yes, every day is earth day. Thank you Susan.

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  13. Not sure if the one I linked will count, as I'm late to the party this time. The prompt was great, so I had to write, Susan. Thank you.
    Shall come and read the other poems tom. G'nite!

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    Replies
    1. You wouldn't be too late until the party disperses on Saturday morning. Earth Day is everyday. So good to see you.

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