By Douglas J. Lanzo
Copyright 2020

First published in The Pangolin Review, 18th Issue (April 8, 2021)

When I reflect upon the oceans,
teeming with life more abundant and resplendent
than the most vivid beauty in my dreams;

When I refresh my lungs in forests of
towering cedar and voluptuous pine,
bursting with air more pristine than their fragrance;

When I gaze upon comets blazing blue ion tails
across black sky of mountains
purer than their streams;

When I behold the glow of glaciers
compressing sky in hues of blue
more dazzling than the firmament they capture;

The earth beckons me to a stunning world
of intricacy, vibrant energy and interdependence,
featuring vast ecosystems of flora and fauna,
desperate and imperiled by our actions,
pleading to my spirit
in words more powerful than any spoken,
imploring far-sighted stewardship
that preserves and cherishes life
in its unique and irreplaceable majesty
for future generations of mankind,
bidding me to proclaim its splendor
as worthy of our most thoughtful and courageous efforts
to unite in plan and execution across
our brotherhood of nations
to humbly steward and respect
the plants, animals and topography that,
together with our human race,
rotate each day, orbit each year and continuously spin
on an ocean-blue, tree-green planet
dotted with clouds of white
through the wondrous interstices of our galaxy.