Dear Earth,
You are the only nest I’ve ever known.
My shelter; my sustainer.
I have feathered and molted,
held in your palm.
In your forests, on your mountains,
at your shores, I have felt love; found calm.
I have given birth in faith that our home
will provide shelter and sustenance
to my offspring and theirs
and theirs and theirs.
Now, I worry dear Earth,
will you survive us and live on?
We’ve trod with heavy footstep
which you must spring back from.
With love and concern,
this human Mom
Poem by Marjorie Moorhead
Marjorie Moorhead writes from a river valley, surrounded by mountains, and four season change, at the border of NH/VT. Her work can be seen in several anthologies, including A Change of Climate (2017, edited by Sam Illingworth and Dan Simpson, benefitting The Environmental Justice Foundation), and Planet in Peril (2019 Fly On The Wall Press; benefitting Climate Coalition and World Wildlife Fund). Marjorie’s poems have been selected by Indolent Books, Porter House Review, Sheila-Na-Gig, Tiny Seed Lit., Amethyst Review, Verse-Virtual, and others. Her two poetry chapbooks are Survival: Trees, Tides, Song (2019 Finishing Line Press), and Survival Part 2: Trees, Birds, Ocean, Bees (2020 Duck Lake Books).