We Must Not Fight Our Mother
Location
Change
It comes in great voluptuous waves that knock back humanity
Or in tiny rivulets that slowly cascade and bring a passive awareness.
It can be inspiring, a light that beckons all
Or it can be revolting and shoved in a corner of ignorant bliss.
It can be shameful
loathsome
disgusting
repulsive
vile
and
wrong.
A putrid wind of change has blown,
covered by flowery scents of self interest
and a bitter scent of apathy
I see chickens, dead among their fellows,
jailed in dark, dismal shadows,
never seeing light,
and too big to walk.
I see cows standing knee high in the seas of their own filth,
forced to eat corn that breeds e-coli,
packed as tightly as humans on the London tube during rush hour,
lead to a sickening slaughter,
by a factory system.
I see corporate powerhouses, churning out lawsuits
on the farmer who only seeks a return
to nature that gave us life,
but instead finds corruption
and a steel legal prison
with no hope of escape.
I see pollution billowing out from the smokestacks
filling our lungs with carcinogens,
turning our rivers black,
and our animals ill.
I see trashcans overflowing,
right next to the pathetic empty recycling bins,
filled with glass, cardboard, and plastic -
plastic that will line the stomachs of our animals
whom we pretend to hold dear.
I see seagulls washing up on the filthy shores,
suffocated by the bottle caps lining their intestines.
I see sea turtles,
choked by the opaque plastic 6-pack carriers.
I see polar bears,
standing on a lone iceburg as they watch their world melt away.
I see piles of ivory
and the lifeless forms of bloodied elephants.
I see leather pelts, carcasses, and furs.
All around me I see atrocities where others see neccesities.
I scream "Organic" while others drown my cries with their own.
They cry "Cheetos,
Steak,
French Fries,
Hamburgers,
Fritos."
They know not what they do to my Earth.
And if they do,
They do not care.
I feel her dying and sobbing.
She is resilient, but she does not understand the weapons that pour from our labs.
She knows not what "genetically modified" means.
She knows not why the fruits of her labor are not sweet enough for man.
She knows not why we destroy our brothers and sisters
for the sake of war.
She does not understand radiation
and why her roots become disfigured at its touch.
She has never needed to fight against her children.
Is her gift of life worth so little?
Do you see now why we must change?
And erase our wrongs?
We must return to the Earth that has cared for us.
Children must not fight their mother
for it is
wrong.