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MOTHER EARTH
I remember early childhood days,
crystal clear rivers where we sat and gazed.
Endless hours of throwing stones
and dangling our feet to cool our toes.
Those days have long since passed us by,
now the rivers run red with mankind's
attempt to reach the sky.
Though we try to say its all for the best,
the fish who come to spawn will die before they rest.
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We'd go north to the lakes and set up our camp,
and wake to the sun feeling chilled and damp.
We came to fish on pristine waters,
hoping someday to show our sons and daughters.
The waters now lay still filled with acid from smoldering towers,
for each time it rains, death comes in the form of showers.
Our young have come to see what we have done,
there is no life, only the reflection of the sun.
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Oh Mother Earth little did we know,
that someday our true colors would show.
We did not mean to harm your sacred spirit,
we've grown in leaps and bounds and only come to fear it.
We hear the cry of the eagle calling us to take heed.
The time has come, we must plant a new seed.
A seed of hope to replace that which we have taken,
oh Mother Earth it is you we have forsaken.
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We walked in awe amidst the towering fir,
and if we listened close, could hear the old ones stir.
The timbers rose as if trying to touch the sky,
far off in the distance we could hear a spotted owl cry.
They fall like giants from the heavens above,
the forests and valleys we'd come to love.
The chain saws still whine as they fall more cedar,
an endless resource we were told by our leader.
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Sundown would come with brilliant colors ablaze in the sky,
surrounded by snow capped peaks on mountains up high.
Dawn would come with a shimmering sunrise,
we could look at it then with only our eyes.
The horizon is shadowed with a brown filthy haze,
it hangs in the air, and there it stays.
We can no longer look at the sun with the naked eye,
for there comes a wraith and it comes from the sky.
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We'd go to watch the whales that travel our oceans,
their lullaby cries would bring heart felt emotions.
They'd breach without warning in the midday sun,
and man is there but not with a gun.
The whales are still here but the threat to real,
some would hunt them again as we did for the seal.
Oh Mother Earth we know what we have done,
our skin is now burning in early morning sun.
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It is time to heal all that we have damaged,
it is up to man to replace all he has savaged.
Some say the cost is much to great,
but if not soon dealt with we will seal our fate.
We must stand as one and trust in your spirit
and shout it out loud so all can hear it.
Oh Mother Earth please forgive me for my sin, we're all to blame
for
we all are akin. It's not to late to stop the rape of our lands,
our
spirit is great but in the mist it stands. I must open my heart
and
let your spirit fly free, and give back to you, all that you've
given to me.
WILLIAM E.VERNON © 1995
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