My mother, the Earth

A poem by Nivedh Govil

Others say that I’m an orphan,
but that’s not what I think.
My mother is all around me, whether I’m in Anchorage or in Surat.

She is the home of animals and birds,
living and dead.
She nurtures not one but many
and weaves them in a ballad.

She can also be destructive,
demolishing areas just by shaking
and engulfing areas by only spitting.

Just like others she is impure,
some places polluted, some untainted.
The only ones who can clean her,
are her children, dedicated,
to return a lifelong favour.

She is my mother, the Earth.

Published in Beyond the Box as “Mother Earth”, February 2025.

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