Listen

By Peter Kadel

 

The trees sigh

The mountains howl

The rivers roar

The plains rumble as thousands of hooves stamp and pound across them

The desert deafens you with utter silence

And the sky accepts this noise and waits for it to disappear

Listen

The songbirds twitter and titter

Their wings beat as they whistle and tweet

The hawk lets out a piercing cry with the same lovely twang as an old guitar

The placid lake prefers silence wishing to listen to the lyrical beauty the frogs have to offer

And the fish are the glorious percussion as they leap through the glassy surface and then slap back down like a lazy drummer

Listen

The bow of a ship scrapes and scratches against gravely beaches

Metal tools clatter and clang as foolish explorers build monuments to materialism

Black powder ignites and lethal projectiles fly forward snuffing out our most precious treasure–life

The aggressors’ voices drown out the screams of Mother Nature and her children

Listen

Her anguished cries subside to gentle sobs as coal iron and timber are extracted and used to fuel the machine

Cities like arteries are linked by roads like veins bringing the stolen life to those undeserving of it

Gears and engines turn and grind a roar and devour the freshness of the world

We feed on the flesh and blood of earth and we smile as her blood drips from our faces.

Listen

Look someone cares

They speak out and carry signs wishing for change

They are defenders guardians warriors citizens of the natural world

They care and they aren’t afraid to tell the world

They hold marches

They practice conservation in everyday life

A generation has found their voice

Listen

But no one does

The bastards still drown us out with screeching machinery

Our peaceful resistance grinds to a halt as they grind the forest into dust and strip the world bare

They tell us we are wrong

They have the audacity to call us conspiracy theorists

I can’t bear to listen

So I won’t

It’s my turn to make some noise

It’s their turn to listen

And they don’t have a choice

My voice is my weapon and my wit is sharp

My battle cry will shake what little trees are left

I will roar like a hurricane

I will bellow like the machines you cherish

And I will drown them out and destroy them as they destroy the world

I will do it happily

You’d better listen

 

Editor: Makena Behnke