Thursday, September 27, 2018

Wordy Thursday with Wild Woman ~ Earth Grief

A statue in Berlin, by Isaac Cordal 
entitled "Politicians Discussing Global Warming"


The topic of climate change is on our minds and on the news these days as never before.  Floods, hurricanes, wildfires, a heating planet, melting poles:  Mother Earth is struggling desperately under the heavy load of human and corporate demands. Those of us who are aware may be carrying what I call"earth grief" as a result.



This past summer, the whole world witnessed the grief of the mother orca, Tahlequah, whose calf died soon after birth. The mother orca carried her dead calf on her head for seventeen days, with assistance from her pod, in an unprecedented display of grief felt around the world. 

This pod of orcas, who live in the Salish sea, at the south end of Vancouver Island, is starving for lack of salmon. This was the first live calf born since 2015. She lived half an hour. Over-fishing, contamination from fish farms, toxins, warming seas and boat traffic are imperiling their survival. 

WE are doing this, with our relentless and voracious demands on a struggling planet.

It is our task, as poets who love all life, to put our pain, our fears and our hopes into words. Using as many or as few words as you need, write about earth grief / climate change in general.
or

Pick one facet of the planet's struggle and give voice to it: wildfires, elephant massacres, extinctions, plastic garbage dumps in the sea, dying coral reefs, grieving mother orcas - whatever you are most moved by in this moment. 

or

If this is too depressing, write your poem about the beauty of the natural world, all that you hold dear.

Let's sing our pain and our love to our suffering Mother Earth.

I look forward to reading your offerings.




9 comments:

Kerry O'Connor said...

Thank you for a very thought-provoking post, Sherry.

hyperCRYPTICal said...

Thank you for this excellent prompt Sherry.
Your top image is quite brilliant and the second so sad.
What will become of our world?
Anna :o]

Vivian Zems said...

Hi Sherry! You would think that we would all take heed and safe our planet.... but oh no! That image perfectly mirrors the world’s attitude. A great prompt.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Sadly, earth grief weighs heavily on so many of us. We can see clearly what is happening to this planet we love so much and all of its creatures. What will it take to remove the stranglehold on the throat of the earth by multinationals and leaders to whom money is the only bottom line? I hate being the doom and gloom prompter, but I promise you a happy prompt in October!

brudberg said...

My choice was to write a dystopian narrative poem... yes we can be depressed, but there are good things happening too.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

I so appreciate your taking the time to pen a poem, my friends. Not an easy topic. I loved each of your poems. And, Bjorn, it is good to remembr there are MANY good things happening too. Especially in the field of switching to clean energy sources, and the young people working to clean the ocean and plant trees.

Sherry Blue Sky said...

Hi kids, I am here, dizzy head and all, just slow in making it around. I am so appreciative of your wonderful poems.

Margaret said...

A short poem - late in submitting.

Priscilla King said...

I'm late for this hop, but had posted one...written in 1982 after driving past "developments" in Tennessee.