I AM THE EARTH
I am the Earth. I change with the seasons.
My tides rise and fall with the moon up above.
Out of my womb all new life emerges.
I nourish all beings, so great is my love.
I am the Earth with the sun on my hilltops.
I am the Earth—ah, my valleys are sweet.
I freely give being to myriad life forms;
I give them their homes and the food that they eat.
Species of Man, know I am your Mother.
Know I conceive you long, long ago.
I carried your embryo deeply within me,
Waiting through centuries, countless and slow.
Finally I watched you emerge from my fullness,
Flesh of my flesh, and bone of my bone.
I nurtured you well through your boisterous childhood,
Though your wars and injustice I couldn’t condone.
I patiently suffered your exploitive fancies.
You’ve plundered and raped me for treasures I hold.
And yet I’ve sustained you, descendants of Adam,
And given my forests, my oil and my gold.
But now, humankind, your puberty hastens.
It’s time for the rites that will make you a man.
Can you forsake the ways of your childhood?
Can you pass the test evolution demands?
Will you destroy me? I am your Mother!
Put down your war toys. Grow up and be men.
All of you suckled my breast in your childhood.
Know that you’re siblings, now just as then.
I am the Earth. I change with the seasons.
My tides rise and fall with the moon up above.
Out of my womb all new life emerges.
I nourish all beings, so great is my Love.
~~Sylvia, 1981 (on The Farm)
