I would comb the beaches

of garbage--sca-tter--ed trash,

collect the refuse like we once collected seashells

as the waves crash.

And scrub off the chemicals

---the thick skin of toxins- layering the skin of fruits---

which poison our food, our bodies

and sicken our earth.

And breathe new air

into the lungs of the forest,

rejuvenating the colors, the sounds, and the smells,

making the earth young again.

I would lick my thumb

and wipe away

the smut, the smudges of the ozone bubble

which, until now, we thought was meant to be gray.

And scrub away the litter

and douse----the gutters

of the sordid city’s gut

--what became of our dirty house-

And shave away the smog

of the over-packed metropolis,

of---stacked---blocks of –streets-- and buildings-

and citizens—extracted from the night.

And cup the waters of our Mother Earth

in my-lined--cracked- and earthen palms,

letting it strain through my fingers

like a sieve calmly catching the dirty dregs.

I would crush the factories,

-the fiery tellurian hells blast—

beneath my fingertips,

they steam defeat at last.

And then wrap the poles

in a frozen wind’s embrace

the—whistling---blistering—gusts

that keep the ice caps in place.

And pump hard on the chest

of the Earth as we know her.

Throw my whole body

into making her blood flow.

Coursing veins of rivers,

arteries of salty seas,

organs of countries,

all breathing again

thanks to me.