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Intertwined

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We are all taking a journey
on the same spaceship.

It is not us and them,
humans and animals.
It is just us
sharing the same air,
the same water,
the same land.
Inextricably intertwined.
What we do to them,
we do to ourselves. 

Like us, they meet and mate,
give birth, raise their young,
communicate with them,
and teach them how to live.

Like us, they eat, sleep, play, dream
and protect their families.

Have you ever watched a dream
roll across your dog's face?

Have you ever fed a peanut
to an elephant?

Have you ever earned the trust of some beast
and felt the honor of that acceptance?

That's it.  The connection.

Have you ever realized
while being watched by a caged lion
that he's thinking of you as lunch?

That's it, too. 

We must extend our definition
of the word "family"
to include all life.
We are not just connected
to our dogs and cats and horses.
We're also connected
to the ape, chimp and orangutan,
the rhinoceros, hippo and bison, 
the lizard, snake, and crocodile,
the lobster, clam and sea urchin,
the slug, snail and caterpillar.

It's just another of our fatal flaws,
perhaps the largest -
to protect only what we feel connected to.

Until we consider every living thing
that shares our planet with us
as part of our family,
our own survival will be in peril.

If we continue to allow them
to suffer and diminish in number,
we will be left alone
in a world devoid of life
connected to nothing,
with nothing left to protect 
except our own dark survival.







Author notes

Sorry.  Just a little rant I had to get out of my system.  lol

Here's a piece of writing that made me an environmentalist more than anything else.  It is credited to Chief Seattle, a Susquamish chief who lived on the islands of the Puget Sound.  His speech was given in 1854.  There are several versions of it but this one is my favorite.  It has also been argued whether or not Chief Seattle said any of this at all, and that it may have been written by a Hollywood screenwriter for an old western.  In the end, I don't think it matters.  It is one of the greatest pieces of writing and wisdom I've ever come across either way.

"The President in Washington sends word that he wishes to buy our land. But how can you buy or sell the sky?  The land? The idea is strange to us.  If we do not own the freshness of the air and the sparkle of the water, how can you buy them?

Every part of the earth is sacred to my people.  Every shining pine needle, every sandy shore, every mist in the dark woods, every meadow, every humming insect.  All are holy in the memory and experience of my people.

We know the sap which courses through the trees as we know the blood that courses through our veins.  We are part of the earth and it is part of us.  The perfumed flowers are our sisters.  The bear, the deer, the great eagle, these are our brothers.  The rocky crests, the dew in the meadow, the body heat of the pony, and man all belong to the same family.  

The shining water that moves in the streams and rivers is not just water, but the blood of our ancestors.  If we sell you our land, you must remember that it is sacred.  Each glossy reflection in the clear waters of the lakes tells of events and memories in the life of my people.  The water's murmur is the voice of my father's father.

The rivers are our brothers.  They quench our thirst.  They carry our canoes and feed our children.  So you must give the rivers the kindness that you would give any brother.

If we sell you our land, remember that the air is precious to us, that the air shares its spirit with all the life that it supports.  The wind that gave our grandfather his first breath also received his last sigh.  The wind also gives our children the spirit of life.  So if we sell our land, you must keep it apart and sacred, as a place where man can go to taste the wind that is sweetened by the meadow flowers.

Will you teach your children what we have taught our children?  That the earth is our mother?  What befalls the earth befalls all the sons of the earth.

This we know: the earth does not belong to man, man belongs to the earth.  All things are connected like the blood that unites us all.  Man did not weave the web of life, he is merely a strand in it.  Whatever he does to the web, he does to himself.

One thing we know: our God is also your God.  The earth is precious to him and to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.

Your destiny is a mystery to us.  What will happen when the buffalo are all slaughtered?  The wild horses tamed?  What will happen when the secret corners of the forest are heavy with the scent of many men and the view of the ripe hills is blotted with talking wires?  Where will the thicket be?  Gone!  Where will the eagle be?  Gone!  And what is to say goodbye to the swift pony and the hunt?  The end of living and the beginning of survival.

When the last red man has vanished with this wilderness, and his memory is only the shadow of a cloud moving across the prairie, will these shores and forests still be here?  Will there be any of the spirit of my people left?

We love this earth as a newborn loves its mother's heartbeat.  So, if we sell you our land, love it as we have loved it.  Care for it, as we have cared for it.  Hold in your mind the memory of the land as it is when you receive it.  Preserve the land for all children, and love it, as God loves us all.

As we are part of the land, you too are part of the land.  This earth is precious to us.  It is also precious to you.

One thing we know - there is only one God.  No man, be he Red man or White man, can be apart.  We are brothers, after all."


Written November 4th, 2005

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1 - 10 of 10

  • SharonLynn
    February 10, 2006
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    Wow this was very interesting to me. I have long known of this speech although I haven't read this version all the way through I will get to it soon I hope. For now I am giving up and going to bed before I fall over. This is a wonderful write. It shows how much you really care and it also tells a great truth, a truth that the native people of this country knew hundreds of years ago, we are all connected. Basically it goes to the whole Lion King, Circle of Life thing.....don't ask, my babysitting charge was watching earlier and it popped in my head. LOL. Great write at any rate.
  • Mickie27
    November 9, 2005
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    This is truly brilliant it shows how much you love and respect all animals. I was struck by this your writing is very mature and sensitive to all life. I loved your take on this and agree with everything you have said. Fantastic. Thanks for entering.

  • Grieving-Willow
    November 8, 2005
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    I couldn't agree with my dad more. Your poetry is always so unique and expressive. You are one of the few poets, writers, ect that can write about anything and still keep my attention This is wonderful, I love the graphics with your MASTERPIECE Love you... I'm so proud to even be just a little piece of your life Sara

  • fool no1
    November 6, 2005
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    To be at one with all. The connectivity of every living breathing thing on this beautiful planet holds far more importance than we can ever begin to understand. Each one affecting the other within the circle of life. Thank you Mark, this is truly thought provoking..mal

  • Providence
    November 6, 2005
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    Yeah! I have been seeing more and more poets inspired to write such truths! It is amazing to me that poets can see the interconnection of lift and politicians can't. My brother is very involved in washington usuall on the other side. But recently he visited CHina and was appaulled by the pollution in the air. When returning to Washington he tried to meet with senators he thought would listen and one actually said, "Why should I be interested in air quality in CHina---It doesn't mean a thing to my voters!"
    Great write!
  • Ironfeather
    November 5, 2005
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    Good work!

    "It's just another of our fatal flaws,
    perhaps the largest -
    to protect only what we feel connected to."

    This is outstanding and, on the off-chance you are not acquainted with it, I recommend that you find Marty Robbins' "Man Walks Among Us". A great song that was never aired as much as it deserved.

    When will you take the initiative and get your work published?

    People need to read it!

  • haikumonk gold member
    November 5, 2005
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    Intersting and effective write, Mark. I'm glad I dropped in on this one. You have a way of touching on rich subjects that provoke greater, more significant thought by the reader.

  • amz my heart
    November 5, 2005
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    This is great!!! Full of life, ours theirs and everything. Gives us a new way of looking at the world as a whole. Thank you so much I hope it opens up more eyes than my own xoxox
  • p
    November 5, 2005
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    WOW...the pictures are so sweet..Especially the last one..Animals are one of us..thats so true..I love the theme..And the way you have brought out the significance of it..we will be left to our own dark survival..that line was so sweet..Good luck in the contest!

  • SusanL
    November 4, 2005
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    Being a native northwesterner and having lived in Seattle for a while I am very familiar with this.
    As I read your poem and then the speach of Chief Seattle I am also reminded of the old commercials of the 70's about littering and many other things like that.
    You have brought up some very valid points and I am glad I took the time to read this through.
    Susan
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