For Earth, In Remembrance, On Her Day

Inspired by an Earth Day tweet; and to remember, every day

Photo by NASA on Unsplash

The perennial cry to “Save Earth” is odd. Planet Earth survives massive asteroid strikes — it’ll survive anything we throw at it. But Life on Earth will not.

– Neil deGrasse Tyson

Maybe, instead, we should speak in terms of Gaia. The Mother
who gathers us into her arms. Her sacrifice
calls to mind Demeter, who, for the love
of a daughter, covered the world
so nothing could grow. For how
could other life go on
if her beloved one
was gone?

So does Love lead to destruction?
Or is it more the love
of comforts, too precious
to let go?

In the end, geology will defeat us all.
The earth survives, impassive
stone worn down by time
to motes of sand, to circle
round the sun regardless,
five billion years
or more.