As a writer and editor in Berkeley, I have enjoyed contributing to the Daily Kos for a few years. I have also composed a considerable volume of poetry, but have been reserved in publishing most of it. This is a poem I wrote as a tribute to Earth Day, which was debuted at the Red Victorian in SF on Haight Street last weekend. It is a comprehensive and cautionary tribute to “Mother Earth & The Four Sister Elements,” with references to Judaism, Islam, politics, Traditional Chinese Medicine and that quaint old thing called “Science.”
MOTHER EARTH & THE FOUR SISTER ELEMENTS
H. Scott Prosterman
Earthseed germinating for generations
La’ door va’ door.
From generation to generation in perpetuity.
Part of the master plan as long as we don’t screw it up.
We are the custodians and stewards entrusted with its care.
Being at the top of the food chain carries responsibilities.
Hard as a rock,
Delicate as an orchid,
Volatile & serene,
Aquatic & parched,
Hot & cold,
Tropical & Arctic,
Aeronautic & Submarine,
Beach & Mountains
Where the water meets the shore
Ahhh, my favorite spot and the favorite most of our species for pro-creation.
No wonder land is so expensive near there.
Everybody wants to DO it on the beach,
But only when the weather is nice.
They say it’s not nice to fool Mother Nature.
They used to say it in a TV commercial for a butter product that wasn’t real butter.
How ironic, because that’s the whole point.
Real butter is better than butter product for real people anyway.
And what’s all this stuff about the Lord of Hosts?
Aren’t they the guys who kick ass if we disgrace the faith
Or don’t steward and shepard the earth properly?
It’s the same damn thing, right ya’ll?
Carlos Santana knows all about the Lord of Hosts –
He talked about them at the 2000 Grammy’s in his 8th acceptance speech:
Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh Adanay tis vah os,
Melach kol ha-eretz ke vough-dough
“Holy holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts
For the Whole Earth is full of His Glory.”
Mother Earth, she say, she say
Eat from the plants, fruits and grains,
The milk and eggs from the birds and mammals, and be creative with what they don’t need.
Manage the herds and nourish yourselves to balance your bodies and Mother Earth.
After the Flood the wild game was on.
But it got out of hand and we’re WAAAAY out of balance,
Out of tune out of sorts, out of kilter, out of whack;
On the brink, on the edge.
But we’re talking science here folks, and that’s not accepted as it used to be.
Some people who aced all the science courses in high school now deny it all.
Their party became more important than science, sense and sensibility.
More important than water, earth, wood, fire and metal.
Those are the Five Elements that we gotta’ them in balance.
Ever see the pictures of fire on water? How apocalyptic!
Too much of a good or bad thing, and water, wind or fire takes over.
WHAT PART OF THAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND BY NOW?
Running up in the Santa Monica Mountains of Topanga Canyon,
I saw a black above LA with azure blue sky above and lessening shades of brown, gray, pink and yellow.
“Oh, that? Just some atmospheric conditions, that’s all.
Occasionally, this time of year we’re prone to a little inversion of hot and cold, that’s all.
Nothin’ to worry about, it’s that simple, that’s all. Have a nice day & breathe easy.”
Oh yeah? WHAT COLOR IS THE SKY IN YOUR WORLD?
Baruch Ha-shem, Il-Humdu Li-lah, Thank G-d.
“What ‘chu say? Huh?”
I SAYYAD, . . . Baruch Ha-shem, Il-Humdu Li-lah to make sure I cover all the bases, just in case.
You got a PROBLEM with any of that? Huh?
Nah - OK, we’ll allow that, but you can’t say “bootle-yi-yakasaki” ‘cause they don’t allow that.
In fact, they take a very dim view of that and anybody messin’ with the Seafood Mama.
She’s the sister of Mother Earth and Brother Sky.
They don’t always get along but they try.
And G-d said, be careful not to kill off the buffalo herd in the middle of North America,
Because we need to buffalo piss to nurture the tall grasses American Savanna
And keep the cold Arctic from meeting the warm gulf.
Otherwise, said the Lord, ya’ll might get some monster tornados in ya’ll’s 2nd Century.
And the Lord said: Ya’ll got all kinds of messengers & a lot of big phonies.
Moses, Jesus & Mohammad all got it mostly right in the same damn way,
But their messengers & false messiahs messed it all up.
Ya’ll got some messed up messiahs here on this Earth, I’m tellin’ ya’ to get it right,
Or there won’t be no Mystery Science Theatre 3000 or Futurama for future generations.
So, we don’t want no Anti-Devulian catastrophe or Hellfire on ice
If you know what I mean.
And don’t expect no grammar lesson on this Busman’s Holiday.
It’s Earth Day, and time to Party ya’ll.