Letter to the Editor from Earth

Climate Change, nature, science 1 Minute 

you have the Darwin awards
            that you wily survivors may
feel better about yourselves

clothed like irony
         in the intelligence of your decisions.
oh sad species

unclip yourself from false reflections
        and wash, nay scrub, clean my air
of your putrid carbon abuse.

run your tea strainers through my oceans
                  like lice combs through the 
sweet smelling hair of children

and in punishment eat your plastic
           as innocent creatures have done.
let it fill up your bowels

with a thousand years of regret
           and then, with stomachs aching,
turn to tree planting.

exhume from my soil
            your centuries of disrespect
and pay homage with your tears

to these tiny green saplings
              that they may flourish, grow strong
birthing a second Renaissance

where nature is art
               and science is education
and Earth’s health is paramount.

then your womb's fruit
                shall safely prosper
in this orbit of my content

Written for Earthweal

Published by abigfatcanofworms

We all walk in the dark. But if we hold hands, perhaps the dark won't be as scary.

Published

29 thoughts on “Letter to the Editor from Earth”

  4. What a strong message! I love the imagery, especially

    ‘run your tea strainers through my oceans
    like lice combs through the
    sweet smelling hair of children’

    – nice to think, also, that we might still have a chance.

    Liked by 1 person

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  11. “Let it fill up your bowels with a thousand years of regret”……..as it does the dead bodies of whales washed up on shore, and seabirds, bellies full of plastic. Gah. I wish I were as hopeful as your closing lines…..but humans seem to not hear the message till way too late.

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  13. Wow! Another amazing epistolary poem! And it’s a letter to the Editor from Earth, which made me smile. I love the irony that runs like trace metal through the earth. I especially love the lines:
    ‘run your tea strainers through my oceans
    like lice combs through the
    sweet smelling hair of children
    and in punishment eat your plastic
    as innocent creatures have done.’

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. This makes me think of the puberty rites, where starry youth were ripped from their mother’s embrace, taken into the wood or cave and ritually initiated into adulthood by scarring and rough medicine. That is where adulthood begins, and the human tribe is due for some rough learning. All of that here to right the balance. May we learn the lessons of this Letter well. — Brendan

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    1. Thanks, Brendan. Initiation ceremonies are a scary concept to me. Rites of passage treated almost like punishment. But, I have to say, I had no qualms being a bit harsh in this poem.

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      Reply

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