Gaia’s got a lot to do

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By Will Falk

Recorded by author

 

Gaia, unlike some deities,
does actually hear your prayers.

It’s just that she’s busy.
She’s trying to make sure
everyone has enough to eat
and drink and breathe
and keep their little selves warm
all while she tries to cool off
from the fever fueled by
the combustion of
her own guts
that her own children
rip, pull, pump, frack,
and mine out of her.

So, yes, she hears them
but she’s been praying
that she had someone
to pray to and her prayers
are going unanswered, too.
She grieved for awhile,
but when her rivers of tears –
the ones that hadn’t
already been dammed –
dried up, she was only sicker,
hotter, weaker, and
more desperate than ever.
That’s when she knew
she’d have to do it herself.

Now, instead of praying,
she throws everything
she’s got at them,
pandemics, hurricanes,
floods, droughts,
even massive armies
of little rodents gnawing
down the electrical grid
wire by wax-covered wire.
If she had time,
she recently realized,
she’d try to teach the humans
that actions speak louder
than prayers
but even so it’s hard
to teach someone
who is too busy praying,
and Gaia’s got a lot to do.


Will Falk is a biophilic writer and lawyer. The natural world speaks and Falk’s work is how he listens. His writing has been published by the Dark Mountain Project, Voices for Biodiversity, Earth Island Journal, Whole Terrain, CATALYST Magazine, The Wayfarer, Braided Way Magazine, and the San Diego Free Press, among others. His first full-length collection of poetry When I Set the Sweetgrass Down will be published by Homebound Publications’ Wayfarer Books on April 11, 2023.

 

3 thoughts on “Gaia’s got a lot to do

  1. Hi Will from nearby Vienna, Austria,
    We can only hope that mother earth‘s kids finally grow up, accept their responsibility, become mature, and help Gaia providing her existential and ultimate holding environment. Your poem touches me, Will. I am grateful for your lines. Warm regards, Ute

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