We must take utmost care,
to be aware as we awake
to each new day,
that we are obligated
to share this planet,
to care for this planet
as if our lives depend on it—
because they do, you know.
No ifs, ands or buts.

But…
it is written…
in the book of Genesis,
chapter 1, verse 26:
“Let them have dominion
over the fish of the sea
and over the birds of the air
and over the cattle
and over all the earth,
and over every creeping thing
that creeps upon the earth.”
“Them” means you and me.

Pardon my heresy, but No!
We should no more dominate the earth
than the worms that burrow through it,
or the chickens that scratch its topsoil,
or the whales that fill its oceans with song!
We belong to the earth!
We are one of a million billion
lifeforms that share the air,
the water, the food, the space.
Human race—yes—
but not top dog,
except in the fog of our own
misconceptions, shaped by
misdirections of biblical writers of yore
and scores of money-grubbing vultures;
by cultures saturated with bad habits
and unreasonable expectations—
as if the earth and her abundance
are forever, no matter how much
we drill, mine, spray, pump gas
or pass the buck by saying:
What’s my little bit of care worth
when military giants guzzle oil
and feast on the spoils of war
in their race to dominate the earth?

We say no shame, no blame,
but shame on us if we fail to see
the big picture—the web:
crossed, crisscrossed,
angled, draped,
and secured with silver threads
from sea to shining sea,
from mountain peak to mountain peak,
from pole to pole
and dipping down, down into
earth’s deepest holes.

Others’ mistakes, ignorance,
crimes are not ours to rest upon.
We must do what we can,
our own small or big part—
we have to start somewhere,
in our minds, in our hearts,
in our souls’ best intentions.

The web of life:
not our web,
not a thing to be owned
or sucked dry,
or put high on a pedestal
to worship or deny.
The blame of its demise
would surely land on us…
“Unless” (to quote Dr. Seuss)
“Someone like you cares a whole awful lot.”
Unless we, each one of us,
care a whole awful lot!

So, let’s rise up with strength
and celebration, determined
to take utmost care, determined
to be aware as we awake
to each new day,
that we are obligated (and blessed!)
to share this planet,
to care for this planet
as if our lives depend on it—
because they do, you know.
Our lives and
the fish of the sea
and the birds of the air
and the cattle
and every creeping thing
that creeps upon the earth.
And don’t forget the trees,
the flowers, the fruits, the nuts,
the very air we breathe.
No ifs, ands or buts.

Glenda Breeden for The Poplar Grove Muse