Donald Cochrane - Renewal

I see the land, once open, now contained.
A gentle creature, caged, in servitude.

I see the forest, once wild, but now restrained,
stripped of it's majestic solitude.

I see the sea, once full of life, now choked,
a ravaged tribute to unbridled greed.

I see the sky, once clean, now filled with smoke,
without a voice to cry, or words to plead.

The roar of man's machines forever heard.
The frenzied need for progress, for success.

I cannot hear the keening of a bird,
I cannot feel the gentle wind's caress.

And yet there's hope, if I take time to see
the fragile bud, a seed, a newborn calf.

I touch the fertile soil, the seedling tree,
I listen to a new born babies’ laugh.

In spring, I see the world once more alive,
in fall, the spawning salmon in the stream,

I know that natures cycle will survive
when man’s last edifice is just a dream.

(Lake Cowichan, BC,1995)

Donald Cochrane

http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/renewal-21/