WE WILL BEAR WITNESS to our world. This media project collects stories from earth's citizens, recording climate destruction, devastation, resilience and hope.
Tell your story.
Three Poems from The Common Book of Stars
Ode to Western Civilization
Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedon the west coast of Africa, standing stones
tell of future alignment with the Heavens
what will come in the here and nowText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedcall it destruction
call it rebirth
or the second coming,Text within this block will maintain its original spacing when published what? only one other coming
surely this is not truthText within this block will maintain its original spacing when publishedrest your weary head for a moment
your heart will beat, I will tell you moreText within this block will maintain its original spacing when published so sorry, must go
one more cup of coffee, please
Rain
Today the wind arrives
crossing continents
from a cyclone in Auckland
a Syrian earthquake all these events
obvious too the melting of the permafrost
the albedo effect warming our oceans
and others too numerous to mention, icebergs, glaciers, clear cuts
for the horizon of tomorrow is here
spread like jewels
a wildfire
from the Great Mother
believe what you will,
a hungry ghost is not far behind,
name it what you wish
imagined wholly real
no matter what,
please do not name it progress,
the rain is not far behind.
The Wind Came Up and the Rain
fell. The
monsoons of Northern California are here
next will come again drought admonishing heat
wetlands dry, monsoons return, bringing the winds
the found wheel spins and spins, and then the fires
and we long again for what was
now but this, this price we
earned the right to pay
by our greed, our persuasive desires
believed
we take what is ours
not to take
has no price
but this, this turning
is all we know of hope:
at night the stars take their rightful place in the sky
and the moon.
Alexandra Ellen Appel
Alexandra Ellen Appel is a poet and academic living in San Francisco.
WE WILL BEAR WITNESS to this moment in history. This media project features stories from earth's citizens, recording climate destruction, devastation, resilience and hope. Tell your story.
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