21 January

Poem, Mother Earth’s Lyric: They Ignore Me, She said.

by Jon Katz
Mother Earth's Sonnet
Mother Earth’s Sonnet

I looked up at the dark sky tonight,

the sky sucking up all of the light,

the cold all of the warmth,

I saw Mother Earth winking at me,

your eye is so wise, I said,

hoping to win her favor, the eye keeps turning, turning,

needing to see me, demanding my attention,

why so cold? I finally blurted, it isĀ  barely dusk,

and the black and the cold cutting through me,

dimming my spirit,

sending my poor animals into their stalls.

all you can do tonight, she hummed,

ending each word with a hint of a lisp,

is give them some grain, get them inside.

I am sorry for them, they are blameless

in our world, the only creatures who listen to God,

and follow his dreams.

You all ignore me, she said,

even you, you write your poems,

your words, take your photos,

you skate right by,

no better than the rest.

And she sighed,

and covered her heart with her hands,

folded them right across her chest,

What is more sovereign,

more pure and utterly alone,

she said, than God,

up here with me,

singing his beautiful and awful song.

 

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