To celebrate the launching of our website: an original Poem

It was a poetry contest she was to enter ... her first ever

The poem was to be an original .. one "warning about the precarious state of the environment" and "the gravity of the vulnerable situaiton we are facing".

So she had some rules, some guidelines, some restrictions

she had to abide by

And then she found she couldn't hold her breath . . .

for six months

. . . waiting to exhale

Without further ado, here is the Poem:

“ beneath our feet ”

Words fail

I fail

we all fail

the cataclysmic cascade set sail

She breathes

she ripens

tears flow

her blood darkens the soil

with each and every blow

Despite the toxin

the poison

the arrogance bred

each moment I can choose

to rise in the dread

For it is her sun

her crisp morning air

that wakens me

makes me new

each day that I breathe

The task is set

the purpose known

with wide open eyes

we are to find our way home

We owe

an unfathomable debt

one of deep gratitude

of love and respect

We forgot to remember

we became lost with each step

She loves us

even as we have doomed ourselves to fail

and I wonder …

what would it be like to remember?

What would that entail?

To remember

how we once loved her

so completely

embraced her so kindly

so softly

so passionately?

To be cradled in her arms

her heart beat our metronome

as the sun shone warm

and the night carried the moon

as the stars guided us

on our way home

To be humbled by her gifts

  with our every breath

when we remembered each day

to appreciate her love

her effervescent beauty

with honor and respect

In awe we danced, we sang

we lived in her unfolding treasures

We softly laid our hearts

our minds

our bodies

in her caring wisdom

and welcoming pleasures

My mitochondria remember

even as I am taught

being forced to forget

the beauty she brought

Listen to the words

spoken by the wind

the soft caresses

against my skin

Feel the harmony

of the songs

in the rain and the snow

as the dew drops meld

where the rivers flow

.. and the oceans hold

the melodies

as echos in the water

because they remember

without a doubt

we are their sons and daughters

Taste the nourishing sweetness

the mycelium web

the microbiomes

bring with them

the ebb

.. rising from the forest floor

kissing the breeze

with a gentle touch

through the mountains and leaves

through the desert sands

and the coastline shores

the sky waits patiently

for the coming roar

Smell the exhale

of each life’s being

the stone, the moss

the spider, the deer

the floral and fauna

all the sense invoking fragrances

sweet nirvana

Each of them

all of them

everywhere they speak

if we but remember

to be quiet

to be still

to listen

and breathe deep

To open wide

to know what we once forgot

to teach each other

so we don’t become so lost

She is our mother

our friend

our sister

our lover

our very vitality relies

on her every form

and no other

You may think I am crazy

that I have faith in a seed

simply because

she planted one

deep inside me

It is our last chance

our last hope

before we rot

So she planted that seed

with deep love and respect

to abide by and cherish

and not to neglect

Her hope is that

we might learn to share

to grow together again

side by side

and not despair

We can replenish and not deplete

We simply have to learn again

what is at stake

beneath our feet

By DeziRay Dawn Hoover

October 15, 2025

an original poem Sharing Hope