Give me a farmer, who knows the labor of love it takes to grow nourishment
Over a silk-pillowed kirtan-chanting spiritual seeker;
Give me someone who plants her feet in the dirt to feel the power of the earth, held by cosmic energies above, beaming rays of glorious light into her soul
Over a sweat shop yoga room with tight booties working on a better self image;
Give me a tender of animals, who knows deep commitment, day in, day out, all day in fact, the regular ongoing care of nurturing another species, with compassion
Over a self-help junkie who is only working on their own needs with no room for self-sacrifice;
Give me someone who gets up in the middle of night when they hear trouble with their animals, and runs out with only a flashlight in their bare feet
Over someone who avoids relationships so their sleep isn’t interrupted by the needs of another;
Give me the down-to-earth, the humble, the curious, those who are joyful for each wonderous animal, plant and thing of this glorious Earth we call home
Over someone working hard to transcend existence on this planet.
Give me a lover of the natural world over a denier of the sacredness of our very human existence
Give me a person who can both laugh and cry
Give me a person who knows what it means to be part of the infinity, and to be part of what it means to be painfully human, and find the glory, humor, and delight in both.
Give me a woman who knows both life and death are part of this existence
A man that knows life feeds on life, so chooses to tend life
That pain and sorrow are never expelled from this heaven called Earth
As they are the forces that shape us
Like water shapes rock
Without great love there is no sorrow
And a million boddhisatvas sitting on lotus flowers meditating does not stop the pain or the beauty of this world
As great love creates great sorrow
And this the farmer, the down to earth, the tender of animals, the wild men and women, know.
Give me a lover of this planet, who wants it to survive for many more incarnations, instead of abandon it
Give me patience for those who focus only on personal gain, material or spiritual
Give me hope for more people to wake up, to this magical precious place and protect it and nurture it
Give me witness to my tears, for those who do not.
— © Mardi Storm, July 2018 in Colorado
