As the NZ Parliament reviews the Conservation Amendment Bill, we face a critical choice between short-term commercial gain and the survival of our natural paradise.
If you wish ; Anyone from anywhere in the world can legally make a submission to help protect this paradise from commercial development. Click the link below to make a submission before the July 13nd deadline.
When the voice of the land is lost
We are Tāngata Whenua
people of the land,
bound to its care.
people of the land,
bound to its care.
A duty that will be stripped to its bones
As a price is put on paradise.
They call it
bits and bobs
As a price is put on paradise.
They call it
bits and bobs
But the West Coast podocarp forest
remembers itself differently
a carpet of moss so thick
it swallows footsteps
Rimu rising like slow prayers
rain writing itself
again and again
into wet earth
remembers itself differently
a carpet of moss so thick
it swallows footsteps
Rimu rising like slow prayers
rain writing itself
again and again
into wet earth
And Lewis Pass
Stone and wind made visible
Mist moving through jagged Alps,
rivers speaking in broken light
beech forests holding their green
silence as if silence were a duty
Stone and wind made visible
Mist moving through jagged Alps,
rivers speaking in broken light
beech forests holding their green
silence as if silence were a duty
somewhere
a line is drawn through it all
paper edges slice
through canopy shadow
without asking the wind
a line is drawn through it all
paper edges slice
through canopy shadow
without asking the wind
But mother earth
does not sign her rights away
She holds on through ancient roots,
Through silver fern spirals
through podocarp
through the silent flight of native birds
as their wings are tested
through breath itself
still rising
does not sign her rights away
She holds on through ancient roots,
Through silver fern spirals
through podocarp
through the silent flight of native birds
as their wings are tested
through breath itself
still rising
But if the voice of the land is lost
if the last great forests fall
If the real wells of wealth run dry
if the last great forests fall
If the real wells of wealth run dry
who will lose?
Dear Marja, this is a very profound and important message. Thank you so much for sharing. 😊
ReplyDelete...and in Hawaii there is a love of the land, the ʻāina!
ReplyDeleteLinda poesia e recado ao mundo..A Mãe Natureza requer respeito e cuidados!
ReplyDeleteFaçamos nossa parte!
beijos, lindo dia! chica
Thanks for bringing this to our attention and writing about it, Marja. I truly hope this travesty can be stopped in its tracks. Too much of the natural beauty of the world has already been sacrificed for “progress.” Best wishes - David
ReplyDeleteLindo poema. Te mando un beso.
ReplyDeleteVery well said yet even now, as we ponder at the edge of our existence, short-term commercial gain seems to trump the survival of paradise and, therefore, of ourselves.
ReplyDeleteSo beautifully written, and so urgent.
ReplyDeleteReading this feels like standing in the mist of Lewis Pass, hearing the land breathe.
A moving call to action.