But When by Professor Joann Brown

She allows her children to experience themselves through her.

She knows they will eventually understand

Their connectedness to all

For, although they have dominion,

They are all intertwined, related, enmeshed in her

And with all other life expressions.

How could it be otherwise,

Since they emerged from the same source.

The same divine energy flows through them all, plant and animal alike.

They do not understand how powerful they are, but they will.

Without knowledge or understanding of what they are doing,

Their thoughts, words, beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors pour their consequences

Into her being, and she allows it all.

For they must learn.

Though she stands firm and unwavering in her love for them,

They do not see that they are destroying, her beauty

Her ability to sustain herself, them, all life.

Species lost, land and water polluted,

Yet they continue, blindly believing

In their selfish ignorance

that they can do anything and remain unscathed.

In her great love for them, she warns them

She cannot allow herself to be destroyed,

So she must cough up their poison,

Wash out their pollution,

And blow away their indiscretions.

Still, They do not heed her admonitions.

They continue their reckless, wanton exploitation

Of all that she is.

She knows that they can and must learn

But when?