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| Ellen chose this photo to be alongside her poems. |
If only
it were a tiny mosquito
To smack and stop the poison
To smack and stop the poison
If only
we hadn’t cut down the woods
Where creatures have their own pathogen make
up
If only
we didn’t steal their homes,
those cute things we draw, paint
photograph, 4 footed animals that now
give us a taste of our thieves’ foodprint,
In sharing their molecular makeup with 2
footed ones --
to
deliver the pay-back that way, that we did not want.
If only
this cerulean blue can continue its sky splendor
Showing so many colors of green and
Bedazzling flower and tree blossom
So solid and reassuring,
We, so blinded from hazardous living.
If only
our eyes would see what they see Enough,
to want the beauty we relish and STOP all:
roll
back the clock to a quieter time,
If only
we believe the opportunity to retain this condition sits in front
When pollutant machines were invisible among
us,
When sun and wind purified the children with a
little gust
Into the Future. And our lungs weren’t
impaired
If only
we knew their species was our own.
And we must Co-exist in mindful kindness but
alone,
With an eye towards sharing the universe
Surviving on the planet together
And nothing worse.
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| Ellen Mass is at right in center row. Zoom meeting attendees. |
Nihilistic Beauty
Spring has Confounded Me
with its nihilistic beauty
Exploding in brilliant warmth and color
Flying cheerfully in the face of hidden horrors,
in tenement buildings, nursing homes, factories,
ware houses, plants, prisons, migration shelters.
Spring green so perfect
Every leaf, fir needle, pine cone, squirrel and bird,
Mocking the human species for its inability
To adapt
And love them equally.
not being grateful for kindly nature,
Only we try to please,
To crave and hoard more ease
In place of restorative re-birth,
living deeply on earth.
Ellen Mass
Ellen Mass
Letting Go
After the grim reaper left us,
We sequester with less life of our own, aware, afraid.
Dreams dashed. We Let Go of past to see bleakness ahead.
Then hope of glowing inner spirit
Cling to an open field with no horizons
Alive with life force
Return again
Where love flows
We animals will continue
Ellen Mass
