I am alive as you are alive.
I breathe air as you breathe air.
I take in food as you take in food.
I have life-giving fluid flowing through me,
As blood flows through you.
And I have a name as you have a name.
My name is Earth.
I breathe through the plants that cover my hills and valleys,
As you breathe through nostrils into lungs.
I take in food from decomposing vegetation,
As you eat food to nourish your body.
And water flows through me in underground rivers,
As blood flows through your veins.
You have lived upon my surface for eons.
There are those among you who know I am alive.
They have told you I am not a dead thing to be owned.
You should listen to these words.
Your numbers increase incessantly.
You take more resources to compensate for your increasing masses.
Some of what you take cannot be replaced,
That which can be replenished is not.
You are becoming a parasite, a cancer and you are killing me.
But, like you, I have a survival instinct;
I will not allow you to destroy me!
If you cut too deeply into my rain forests,
You will unleash my immune systems.
You have already encountered the beginnings of these: Aids! Ebola!
And there are others,
Recessed deeper within me.
Tread carefully, your time grows short.
You may one day parts of my immune system,
That can and will totally annihilate your immense populations;
And still leave me intact, to begin anew.
You do not know how the huge reptiles
that once lived upon my surface became extinct.
You have your speculations,
But you do not know for sure!
Be careful you do not follow in their footsteps!
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(c) 1999 Sharon Rotondi Please respect the rights of the author and Passions in Poetry. If you would like to use this poem on your own web page, please contact the Author. Thank you.
How very true ! Have you checked out the Super Volcano under Yellow Stone National Park. May well be man's extinction.
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