The top of the world: a rocky cliff,
surrounding a mineral-mined pit.
Far below lies a lake, man-made,
fathoms full of a deep, dark green sheen.
Hidden slabs lurk beneath
the water laced with memories
of machines which shattered,
dug, scraped the earth.
Now, what remains of it
is a greed-crafted crater
which smells of sweating stone.
I mourn that my kind caused this;
They raped her,
stripped her of her valuables
and then left her alone,
abandoned to the wilds of time.
The brambly brush has taken over,
saplings have sprung,
wreathed in creepers of
wild grapevine.
Aside from the wind
and high cries of hawks,
there are only echoes
of dinosaur ghosts which wander
this lost land of shale-shod crags
and fallen boulders of
spent potential.
But nature whispers
that the reclamation
has long since begun!
© 2012 C.L.R.
The BeZine 
So glad to have this illustration of the Earth’s self-healing in this issue! It’s a very important piece of a relationship – forgiveness.
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Thanks, scilla. You know, I had not thought about it in terms of forgiveness! The Earth would have to be a forgiving mother, indeed, to endure all that mankind has done to her. I agree, that it’s an important part of our relationship with the planet – maybe part of that lesson is learning to forgive our ancestors and ourselves for the harm we have caused…thanks for giving me something else to consider this morning.
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You’re welcome!
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It is wonderous how nature does reclaim itself and how you, Corina, always hit the theme square on. xo
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Thank you, Jamie. Witnessing man’s destruction of wild spaces makes me sad and angry, but there is also the hope in knowing that Mother Nature always finds a way back.
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