What We Did
“What we did to the earth, we did to our daughters
one after the other.
—
“What we did to the trees, we did to our elders
stacked in their wheelchairs by the lunchroom door.
—
“What we did to our daughters, we did to our sons
calling out for their mothers.
—
“What we did to the trees, what we did to the earth,
we did to our sons, to our daughters.
—
“What we did to the cow, to the pig, to the lamb,
we did to the earth, butchered and milked it.
—
“Few of us knew what the bird calls meant
or what the fires were saying.
—
“We took of earth and took and took, and the earth
seemed not to mind
—
“until one of our daughters shouted: it was right
in front of you, right in front of your eyes
—
“and you didn’t see.
The air turned red. The ocean grew teeth.” — Marie Howe; Poetry Foundation vol. May 2023—Postscript, p. 99
Daren Thomas Magee (Real Fun, Wow!)
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