Poems and Songs
We Are All Survivors Here — Kay Grindland
Is there any difference, finally
between the rape of a daughter
and the clearcut
the stripmining of the earth?
It felt the same to me,
driving up the Hoh River Valley
to the heart
of the rainforest
seeing clearcut after clearcut
splayed upon the mountains.
I recognize the signs:
how for a moment,
when I am not disassociated
from my body (the earth)
the pain and grief flood through me.
How sleepy numbness
and distraction overtake me
how I avert my eyes and flee
from the evidence that I am torn assunder.
How I do not want to go in
(to see the rainforest)
to witness the preciousness
that just below has been thrown away.
How it is denied:
tourists consuming beauties
at the National Park,
hiding behind cameras and activity,
pretending there are no clearcuts,
there is no danger.
How within the secret I fall
into shame, into isolation,
doubting my truth and my power.
How another's anger,
my own saves me,
how speaking truth and feeling
brings me home again.
We are all survivors here
we are the Earth—
and it is our bodies, our spirits
we have ravaged,
our pain that we deny.
The skills of healing
incest and abuse are the same skills
that heal us all.
My own healing must reach
beyond the confrontation
of one man—one act—one issue.
It embodies the naming,
the grief and anger,
the reclamation, the fight
for nothing less than this planet
this earth
our body.
Calling the Council Of All Beings
by Joan Zimmerman http://www.icogitate.com/~tree"Beings", he said, "are anything that is."
Rivers as well as fish were what he meant,
Wind as well as the grass it bent,
Rain, the clay it cooled, the worm that went
Among the earth.
He touched all lives to his.
"Counsel," he said, "is what they give."
He meant their knowledge and actions that would advise
Of possibilities for being wise,
The taste of granite, sight through spider eyes,
Eaglets at birth,
Oceans where dolphins live.
initial publication "The Monthly Planet" (1988) republication "Coast Lines" (1996).
WARRIORS OF THE RAINBOW — Dada Nabhaniilananda
Last century an old wise woman of the Cree had a vision of the future. She foresaw the Earth being ravaged and polluted, the forests being destroyed, the birds falling from the air and the fish being poisoned in the streams. but then she predicted the advent of a new kind of warrior—from different races and different creeds, coming together to make the Earth green again. She called them the Warriors of the Rainbow.
The sky is clouding, the grass is fading,
People in anguish, the dark is rising.
The Earth She writhes beneath the claws
of the minds that are poisoned
Her children tossed on the waves
of cruel desire and corruption
It could be you, don't shrink away
from the need of the hour
Don't turn away from the hand
stretched in pain of your Mother.
Her name means freedom, Her body earthgreen,
Her blood clear water, her voice is birdsong.
The Earth cries out, can't you hear,
take your courage in hand now.
Our deeds must speak of the love for all beings
waxing strong now
We can't allow the heartless ones
to destroy this great wonder
Slaughtering wales, felling trees,
with no thought for the future.
Here rule the demons, they love no creature,
Their words are poison, they weave dark futures.
A-a-a-a-ah
A-a-a-a-ah
Gather all ye who love the world
from distant lands beneath the tall sky
Gather all ye who love the world
from distant lands beneath the tall sky
In visions past I have seen you awake the spirit moving
In visions past I have seen you awake the spirit moving
Gather all ye who love the world
from distant lands beneath the tall sky
In visions past I have seen you awake the spirit moving
And now the wind is shifting, the tide is turning,
The mist is rising, a rainbow forming
Warriors of the rainbow, the stars are calling
Warriors of the rainbow, the trees are falling
Warriors of the rainbow, the spirit dying,
Warriors of the rainbow, the world is crying out in pain.
And I shall never rest in peace till this cruel reign is ended
And all the children of the Earth shall be free,
Her wounds all mended.
Your time has come, make the Earth green again,
don't delay now.
Victory has been foreseen for the people who do.
Warriors of the rainbow, create new Eden,
Clear rain a'falling, blue sky unending,
Unfearful faces, starlight revealing,
Small creatures dancing, glad voices singing,
Free children playing with chains that are broken,
Warriors of the rainbow, the future lies within your hands.
Re-earthing — Kim Somerville
Yes, I remember now
howling
crying out
in my wildness
my wildnerness
I remember now
my howl
my lone wolf howl
how it rumbles and lingers
in my throat
and chest
Tears flow down
my flushed cheeks
seat
tears
and breath
still howling
sweet and wild
I remember now
the sadness
howling
into the stillness
of the night
longing
for a response
and the only sound
is an echo
of my
cry
I am the howl
of lone wolf
of all wild
beings
Listen
I Remember now
my howl
long and low
Oh God
how wild and good
it feels
to howl once more.
