Earth Day 2021: Restore Our Earth

That’s here, that’s home, that’s us. --Carl Sagan

In this ideal temperate zone around our sun
mated up with our unswervingly friendly moon
in a sparsely painted backdrop of stars
among millions of others in a unique galaxy--
We pledge our song
of unity and beauty and stewardship.

What a gift to be handed!
both the diamond and the rough
the hammer and the sickle
the imagination and
the trust.

Will we finally accept the commitment to
first do no harm?
There are another four billion years
left on our lease
Time enough to reap and time enough
to sow
time to mourn and
time to celebrate.

Will we leave footprints in the sand
or hoof-prints of consumption?
Will we sort through the monuments of our minds
to retain the treasures in this world of the
ordinary wrapped in the extraordinary--
To take sparingly and to preserve
generously?

With free choices come heavy responsibilities
to ourselves and to those who will follow
including all lifeforms that seek to do
no harm to us or them.
We must discern before
we act
learn before we plow under
and decide to do better before
it is too late.