Sydney Rose Small- Turtle Island- 12/04/2022- Blog 8

The following poem that was included in Gary Snyder’s Turtle Island is one of hope. If we can save our planet, then the places that are saved, the natural grounds, they will be the place where our decedents come in peace to gather. But if we do not make changes in an attempt to help our planet, then we as humans are doomed and will all go down. The Earth will still spin on without us, but it is up to us to conjure peace and attempt to save the only place that humans are known to thrive.

For the children

The rising hills, the slopes,

of statistics

lie before us.
the steep climb
of everything, going up,
up, as we all
go down.

In the next century
or the one beyond that,
they say,
are valleys, pastures,
we can meet there in peace
if we make it.

To climb these coming crests
one word to you, to
you and your children:

stay together
learn the flowers
go light

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