EarthRise

an ottavo rima written in response to the photo of Earth taken from the moon 12/24/68

EarthRise

We were clueless before those first photos
of Earth rising in space, a bright cobalt ball.
Enchained by our nationalistic mottos,
not understanding that we are in freefall.
Here was Gaia, and her Novos Ordo.
We need to tread lightly and heed Her call.
This marbled blue stone is alive and breathing,
with a wild, ancient heart in need of healing.


When I push behind my eyes, yellow dissolves
into a pained blue of death and ecstasy.
Gaia's watery essence evolves
outward through time and space into entropy.
Don't worry be happy, everything revolves.
No exit from global ecology.
The lesson we gleaned was the least expected.
This face of the Earth, is our own, reflected.




Written in response to the first photos of Earth taken from the moon, 7 months after the first lunar landing, December 24, 1968.


Form: Ottava Rima