Recently, earth changes hit central United States as the worst floods in recorded history took place in the Midwest. Mary Crooks is one of those people affected and she penned this beautiful poem to express her thoughts.
By Mary Crooks
I stood beside you yesterday, looking across the river at the levee, just broken, water pouring over field and houses. My heart ached for the people and their losses.
Then my focus changed.
I felt your presence for a moment, companions sharing in the sight of the flowing, racing river. You were doing what rivers have always done, for untold millennia, yea, much longer than that. You were carrying water toward the sea.
I felt no anger from you, no thoughts of destruction. Just a joyful racing, reaching, rushing. I sensed your exultation, the unfettered freedom you felt at having shaken off the concrete, the levees, sandbags, even bridges-barriers to your unhindered flow. You rushed like a barefoot child running into outstretched arms. I thought I heard a shout of glee as you leapt into the waiting hug, one river glad to join another.
You are our partner, our friend. Yet we have forgotten, lost in our self-centered goals and purposes. I think you miss us, that you long for time shared in quiet closeness.
I felt no anger from you, River, yet who could blame you if I did?
We mourn the losses, how could we not? But can we learn from the lessons given by our Earth Mother and you, the River?
Who plowed and destroyed the prairie? Like a sponge it absorbed the water showered on us by the Diva of Rain. The deep, rich soil is half gone-what a heart-breaking loss, yet we continue to till the fields and send the soil into the rivers, lost to us forever.
I felt no anger from you, River, yet who could blame you if I did? We dump our garbage, our sewage into you. We add pesticides, toxic chemicals that choke the fish and other life sustained by you. Who could blame you if you tried to vomit out that sickening filth.
When will we remember to call you friend? To listen to you, to learn from you? My heart cried for our forgetting.
I thought of the earth lovers that I know - Fred, Skoti, Doreen, Kristi, Sarah and so many more. I let my heart speak to you. I sent a message of love and respect and gratitude. I stretched out a hesitant hand, not sure what response I would receive.
Oh, Gaia and your countless partners - Pan, the divas, nature spirits and so many more. How can you forgive us, yet you do. How can you still have the compassion to reach out to us, offering us yet another chance to mend our ways and co-create anew, renewing and restoring beauty.
Yet there is a knowing in my soul that you are simply waiting for us to awaken, to leave behind our blindness, take your hands and return the earth to paradise. I felt your arms around me, your finger gently wiping away my tears. You whispered words of comfort and love and I clung to you in heartfelt love and thanks.
Oh, Gaia, mother, friend and all of you who share this realm. I offer our readiness, our wanting, our yearning for a better world. I offer love, deep and sincere. In oneness we reach out to you, ready to begin now. Please, show us the way.
About the Poet
 | Mary Crooks lives in Coralville, Iowa and works as an Extension Family Life Specialist for Iowa State University Extension. She is passionate about caring for the earth and volunteers for many envionmental organizations, including Food Not Lawns and Backyard Abundance. Mary believes that nature is a partner and friend. As we work to solve our environmental problems, we need to call upon these partners-nature intelligence-to help us heal and restore the earth. |
