Monday, April 22, 2013

Earth Day Poem

Si No Hablamos


                        Si no hablamos para alabar a la Tierra,
                es mejor que guardemos silencio.

                        Loa al aire
                     que llena el fuelle del pulmón
                  y alimenta la sangre del corazón;
                       que lleva la luz,
                       el olor de las flores y los mares,
                      los cantos de las aves y el aullido del viento;
                que conspira con la distancia
                   para hacer azul el monte

                       Loa al fuego
                    que alumbra el día y calienta la noche,
                cuece nuestro alimento y da ímpetu a nuestra voluntad;
                  que es el corazón de la Tierra, este fragmento de lucero;
                       que quema y purifica por bien o por mal.

                        Loa al agua
                     que hace a los ríos y a los mares;
                      que da sustancia a la nube y a nosotros;
                        que hace verde a los bosques y los campos;
                      que hincha al fruto y envientra nuestro nacer.

                  Loa a la tierra
                que es el suelo, la montaña, y las piedras;
                     que lleva los bosques y es la arena del desierto;
                       que nos forma los huesos y sala los mares, la sangre;
                   que es nuestro hogar y sitio.

                   Si no hablamos en alabanza a la Tierra,
                        si no cantamos en festejo a la vida,
                                    es mejor que guardemos silencio.
                                        © Rafael Jesús González 2013



Escrito especialmente para el Congreso Mundial de Poetas,
Tai'an, Provincia de Shandong, China, otoño 2005

(Siete escritores comprometidos: obra y perfil; Fausto Avendaño, director; Explicación de Textos Literarios vol. 34 anejo 1; diciembre 2007; Dept. of Foreign Languages; California State University Sacramento; derechos reservados del autor.)

                                                              

If We Do Not Speak


                        If we do not speak to praise the Earth,
                it is best we keep silent.

                      Praise air
                      that fills the bellow of the lung;
                     feeds our heart's blood;
                      that carries light,
                     the smell of flowers; the seas,
                        the songs of birds; the wind's howl;
                   that conspires with distance
                    to make the mountains blue.

                     Praise fire
                     that lights the day; warms the night,
                  cooks our food; gives motion to our wills;
                     that is the heart of Earth, this fragment of a star;
                    that burns; purifies for good or ill.

                  Praise water
                    that makes the rivers; the seas;
                       that gives substance to the clouds and us;
                      that makes green the forests; the fields;
                      that swells the fruit; wombs our birth.

                        Praise earth
                    that is the ground, the mountain; the stones;
                that holds the forests; is the desert sand;
                    that builds our bones; salts the seas, the blood;
                      that is our home; place.

                       If we do not speak in praise of the Earth,
                              if we do not sing in celebration of life,
                                       it is best we keep silence.

                                        © Rafael Jesús González 2013



Written especially for the World Congress of Poets,
Tai'an, Shandong Province, China, Autumn 2005

(147 Practical Tips for Teaching Sustainability: Connecting the Environment, the Economy, and Society; Timpson, William M. et al, Eds., Atwood Publishing Co., Madison, WI; 2006; author's copyrights

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jarunee Lepnark
Professor Sabir
English 1A 20131 4pm-5:50pm
22 April 2013
Freewrite response to If we do not speak.
Thankful for the Earth
Nice way to incorporate Earth Day into the class. Lovely poem that shows appreciation for all that Mother Earth has given to all of us. I really like when Gonzalez said, “Praise air that fills the bellow of the lung & feeds our hearts blood” because it demonstrates how important air is to our ability to breathe and live. He also said, “Praise water that swells the fruit & wombs our birth” which shows that without water we would not be able to continue to reproduce our human kind. The poem expresses how we should be thankful for all of the things that we may take for granted such as air, water, fire and earth because these elements are always there for us without us having to pay for it, but if these free elements did not exist, life as we know it wouldn’t be possible. Gonzalez introduces the poem and also ends it with, “If we do not speak to praise the Earth, it is best we keep silent” I believe he’s saying that if we are not grateful for Earth, we shouldn’t have the privilege of saying anything at all because without the Earth’s elements we wouldn’t be alive.

4:47 PM  
Blogger Unknown said...

Jason Dutra
Professor Sabir
English 1A 1-2:50
22 April 2013
Free write "If we do not speak"

The Earth Speaks
Many stand in protection of the earth, burning through reams of paper about the atrocities mankind has brought to the earth. In a poem written in observance of Earth Day 2013, Rafael Gonzalez, Praises the air, water, animals and mountains in an eloquent fashion befitting a nation of ideal’s that still struggle to find balance in everyday life.
Can we truly find balance between man and nature? We, as a race, have always, and will continue for the near future, this downward spiral of abuse to our world. Is it reasonable to believe that, as a race, one day we will become carbon neutral? Are we not too dependant on our luxuries in life to forego the little things? Just as Rafael Gonzalez praises the existence of all things natural are we not natural? Should we not with the same breath praise our own existence? Do we not “light the day and warm the night” of each other, just as Mother Earth has intended.
Is it “best to keep silent” if we do not praise the earth? Does not our voice, regardless of the message, praise the earth? Our actions, regardless of outcome, validate all that is. It is the burden of self-awareness that differentiates us from the rest. We must not be silent, we must praise, we must pursue all that is the earth for someday we shall all be carbon neutral, and on this day it shall not be what we did not say but what we screamed that remains. Respect, use and enjoy the earth for what it is…Home.

6:08 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ariana Gruber
Professor Sabir
English 1A 4-5:50
April 22nd

Free Write: "If We Do Not Speak"

Rafael Gonzalez poem speaks not only to a narrow audience but to everyone in the world."If we do not speak to praise the earth it is best if we keep silent." If you do not celebrate earth's natural gifts than, what is there to speak about? If we do not appreciate the earth than why bother saying anything.

I believe Rafael is also saying that if we do not sing a song in celebration of the earth than just enjoy it, "the smell of flowers & seas" and "the songs of the birds & the winters howl". Rafael wants us to appreciate the world one way or another.

Praising the air, fire, water, and the earth should come naturally to those people who have access to it.

10:16 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ngoc Huynh
Professor Sabir
English 1A 4-5:50 p.m.
22 April, 2013

Free write on the Earth Poem


“If we do not speak to praise the Earth,” then we will have to meditate it in our heart. As we breathe in every moment, we fulfill the love of the mother of nature in our heart. Earth is our home, and air is our food. River is our milk that mother of nature provides to us. Every day we breathe and drink without remember the parents of nature giving to us.

We should thank to our father of nature who gives us fire in our life, thus we “[p]raise fire that lights the day & warms the night.” We love how fire helps us to keep our heart warm and give us a belief for our future. I can’t imagine the life without fire. I always remember when my family gathers together in the middle of the fire to keep us warm.

We can’t keep silent because every day we have to thank the parents of nature provide us a beautiful life that we are living in. Most of our life is based on the resources that the nature provides to us. Thus it is our responsibility to protect and maintain the environment that the nature gives to us.

12:49 AM  

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