Love Poems for Our Ailing Earth

with E M I L I A

1. Let us not close our hearts
to the earth
just because we’re afraid
we might lose her.

What grief lives
in our lungs
and pain tightens
our solar plexus
just below the surface
of our everyday doing
begs to be felt—
begs to be felt
to reconnect us
to the preciousness
of the time
we have with her.

If our beloved
was dying
of some rare disease
would we abandon them?

No, we would make
our home
at their bedside—
for nothing
would be more important
than witnessing every last
glimmer of God
shining through their eyes.

2. If obsession sets in
searching for a cure
to give her ailing body—
let us not be consumed
so entirely
that we forget
to be with her.

Like a workaholic parent—
though well-intentioned,
the empty chair
at mealtime
is always felt.

Our absence
is always felt.

3. Let us not relate to her
as a burden
or even as someone
who is sick.

She doesn’t want our fear
or our pity
or avoidance of eye contact
while making awkward attempts
at small talk…

Let us look directly at her.

Let us meet her where life is.

Let us ask her
about her hopes
and her dreams
listen to her stories
notice what lights her up
and commit it to heart.

She wants to laugh
with us
and hug us
and kiss our forehead
and our belly
and our toes
the way a mother
does her child.

She wants to sit with us
on a Sunday afternoon
and look at the birds
and marvel at the cuteness
of all the dogs that walk by.

Let us share with her
our stories too—
about our new love affairs
or the ones
that just broke us open,
what we did at school today
or at work,
what delicious recipe
we might make for dinner
or some new hobby
we want to try—
no detail too mundane,
no emotion too intense,
no trouble too much.

So let us sing her songs.

Let us read her poems.

Let us pray with her.

Let us envision our future
and all of the beautiful things
we can create
and share.

4. As our relationship
with her deepens,
she wants us to surrender
our every tension over to her
letting the mind
and body relax
and be held
by all she has to offer us
in return.

What profound safety
and grace
she embodies
and freely gives.

In consciously allowing
our connection to her,
we nurture a space
that can be entered at will
and continually drawn upon—
a sanctuary
to soothe
and ease
each other
open.

5. If we allow ourselves
to fully love
that which might
be lost—
the ensuing refinement
of our spirit
could make us
into the very medicine
and open channel
for miracles
to come through.

For on the other side
of despair
guilt
hopelessness
terror
rage
and devastation felt,
is our undivided presence
as love.

And love,
my dear,
by its very nature
is encoded with genius.

I’ll say it again.

Genius is encoded
within love—
an inseparable quality
it contains.

So by being
in total love with her
through every step
of her journey,
the chances
increase
exponentially
that we may become
the receiver
of a flash of divine insight
a brilliant download
or some instant non-linear knowing
of what next steps to take
that could facilitate
her healing.

Perhaps we’ll see
some obvious root cause
of her suffering
or find ourselves
inexplicably moved
to decisive speech or action
or are quite literally given
a road map painted
on the insides of our eyelids
of the adjustments
that would bring balance
for the greater well-being.

Or even more,
perhaps
along the way
our every movement
becomes imbued
with some sort of presence
that makes us into a gift
to all of life.

If nothing else,
the undiluted frequency
we uncover within our hearts
may lighten the load
held by the shoulders
of those around us
and further carve
the path
of aliveness
for others to follow.

6. So how can we not
let everything else go
to cultivate that state
of receptivity?

How can we not
risk feeling uncomfortable
and release our narrow ideas
of what we think we are
if such gifts
could be unlocked
in the process?

How can we not
commit our full selves
to this exploration
for the sake
of ensuring that
no inner resource
is left untapped?

How can we not
do whatever it takes?

How can we not?

7. And even if we
pull out all the stops
and her recovery
isn’t apparent
in what can be measured
or seen by our limited eyes,
let us not be discouraged.

Let us not back down.

Let us open the floodgates further.

Let us soften even more.

Let us give her our every tear.

Let us give her all we’ve got.

For it just might
be the same
as it is for all beings—
to die in a state of peace
surrounded with
the presence of those
who cherish us
can sanctify
and make holy
all that was experienced
in this life.

And if it’s just
her time to go—
at least she’ll leave
bursting with joy
for all the love
we didn’t hold back.