1. Earth
Earth
An opalescent sphere
In the vast blackness of space
A pinprick of light
In the swirl of glittering galaxies
Insignificant
Earth
A chance collision of matter
In the explosive chaos of creation
A random collusion of gases
In the exhalation of universal breath
Miraculous
Earth
A fertile womb
For seeding and nurturing life
A stranded home
For birthing and growing and dying
Precious
2. Dreaming
Before Earth took form
Before it coalesced and congealed
Was there a moment of musing—
An impulse for ideation?
Was there a primordial urge
To create, even to play
To splash with light
And to mould shapes and sizes
To brush with colour
And to print tones and textures?
Before Earth knew itself
Before it discovered its solid identity
Was there a pregnancy of possibility—
A desire for dreaming?
3. Incubation
Time …
The thing to know about time
Is that it stretches out
And not just a little bit
A lot
More than a lot
Much, much more than a lot—
Time may even stretch to infinity
Earth …
The thing to know about Earth
Is that it is patient
And not just a little bit
A lot
More than a lot
Much, much more than a lot—
Earth is billions of years patient
That’s important to know
Because Earth took its time
To incubate life
After all, what’s the rush?
4. Secret
Earth holds a great secret—
A secret recipe, if you must know
For aeons, it has not been shared
Not with anyone
(No other planet, at least)
It’s our secret to know
And our secret to keep
Earth’s secret recipe
Did not arrive fully formed
Like all the best recipes
It took trial and error at first—
A dash of this, a pinch of that
It took a lot of adjustment—
A smidge less of that, a tad more of this
It took endless refinement …
Until, at last, it was perfect:
Earth’s Secret Recipe for Supporting Life
(Shhh … don’t tell anyone!)
5. Womb
Don’t listen to Sky
Sky will drone on and on (if you let him)
About how he created the perfect conditions
For life to emerge
Bla-dy, bla-dy, bla
That’s all hot air (if you ask me)
I am Ocean, by the way
And if it’s life you’re interested in—
Especially how it all got started—
Then you need to speak to me
I’m the one who mixed the waters
It was my swaying depths and sweeping breadth
That were fetid and fertile
It was my spewing vents and salted streams
That were fuming and fermenting
What can I say:
It takes a woman’s womb
To incubate life
6. Survival
Many tried and failed, if truth be told—
To survive, that is
It’s not easy, you know
Despite what Sky or Ocean may say
Getting started is easy
Keeping going—that’s the hard bit
And don’t go believing that nonsense
About survival of the fittest
Sometimes the strongest survive
But, more often than not, they don’t
Along with the weakest
And the not so strong and the not so weak
Now, the most adaptable—
That’s another story
That’s the real story of success
The ones who fit best into their changing environment
They were ones who survived
They fitted, for survival
7. Evolution
Earth spins in space
But Earth is not space
Space is mostly empty
(That’s why it’s called space)
But life abhors a vacuum
Life on Earth
Strives to fill in the empty spaces
If there’s a niche, that’s where life is headed
But unlike the void of space
Spaces on Earth are defined
They have size and shape, boundaries
Which means that for each space
Some life fits better than others
And when it fits better, it thrives
That’s evolution for you
The upward march of life on Earth
Is not so much a march as a scramble
And not so much upward and anyward
Life rises and falls, blooms and fades
And yet, is it not beautiful?
8. Synergy
Life reaches out:
Because living can be lonely
And being alone is doomed to failure
Life extends feelers:
Curious about what it might find
Wondering, hoping that there are others
Life makes connections:
With others like itself (how comforting, how interesting)
And others not like itself (how frightening, how exciting)
Life offers exchanges:
This for that, mine for yours
Until the line between one and another blurs
Life finds synergies:
Better together, the whole greater
That the sum of its parts
9. Balance
Sometimes reaching out and connecting
Is for support, for a steadying hand
Because life on Earth is forever tipping
And toppling, seasons slipping
And sliding, forms flailing
And falling apart, if you’re not careful
Earth is in constant motion—
The ground shaking and shifting
The water flowing and flooding
The air ducking and diving—
All is movement, like a dance
Of push and pull, forward and back
Like a game of give and take, rise and fall.
And in the dizzying swirl of forever change
Life craves stasis, stability, security
And so it actively adjusts
Life constantly compensates
And endlessly equates
And so it just about stays on its feet
10. Improv
Excuse me, may I say something?
I’m Nature, and I need to set the record straight
Just so there’s no misunderstanding
Sure, I like to dance, to swoon and sway
To tap into Earth’s rhythms
I like to sing too, hit high notes and low
Harmonies that will take your breath away
But it’s not all about balance
Sometimes, I like to lose my balance
I like to miss a step and skip a beat
To sing off key or just hold my breath
Otherwise, frankly, it all gets a bit boring
A bit too prosaic and predictable
Whereas I like to experiment, to wing it
Try new combinations, improvise
That doesn’t make me crazy (despite what you may have heard)
I’m just saying there’s a place for freestyle dance and jazz too
11. Catastrophe
Hello? Hello! Is this thing on?
It’s Earth again
So sorry, sometimes my wilder Nature grabs the mic
And then … well, you heard him
Suddenly anything goes
What Nature failed to mention
Is that improv is all very well—
The results can be spectacular, sublime—
But just as often, it’s chaos
Or worse: catastrophe!
More than a few times
Nature’s little experiments have gone awry
Think fire and ice, fever and hypothermia
Volcanic ashes and biblical floods
Dark days and mass extinctions
More than a few times
It’s been touch and go
12. Resilience
Still, here I am
Here we are, still here
I guess I’m just not a quitter
And I’ve learned a thing or two
About survival, against the odds
Patience helps, so does perseverance
And it’s not passive, wishful thinking
I don’t just lie back and hope for the best
I actively repair, restore, and regenerate
What is damaged, dysfunctional, or dead
I could teach you a thing or two
About resilience
Like always keeping a bit in reserve
(Spare capacity, in case of emergencies)
And always spreading your bets
(Diversify and decentralise)
Like always being willing to change
But are you willing to learn?
13. Humans
This brings me to a touchy subject:
Humans
I know, I know, I created humans
The fruit of my Earthly loins and all that
And at first, I was the proudest parent on the playground
Every new step, every new word, every new artwork
Amazing, incredible, so proud!
But lately I’m not so sure
Humans have become so selfish
And don’t get me started on the mood-swings—
One moment they’re happy as Larry, perfect little angels
Next thing you know it’s tantrums and fights:
Crying and kicking, bullying and biting
It hurts
14. Hope
I feel I must apologise
You caught me feeling a little down
A little depressed even
But that’s not like me
I’m usually sunshine and rainbows
Upbeat and optimistic
That’s the real Earth me
You see, I have every reason to be hopeful
I still have unwavering faith in humans
Yes, they are clumsy and a bit self-absorbed sometimes
But they are also caring and creative problem solvers
Yes, they fumble and they fall and they fail
But they also recover and they rise and they revolutionise
And truth be told
My health and wellbeing
My fate and future
Is not solely in the hands of humans
15. Rewilding
I think that’s my cue
Nature here
That’s right, I’m back
It’s true what Earth says about humans
I know their machines and misdemeanours all too well—
I’ve been pummelled and poisoned, battered and bruised—
But I heal quickly, given half a chance
I’ve not given up on humans
Nor have they given up on me
They are starting to understand my powers of regeneration
How I can turn wastelands into wetlands
And make the deserts bloom again
How I can reseed the felled forests
And breathe life into dead waters
I will rewild the world
Sooner or later, that’s my promise—
With or without humans
16. Love
That’s so like Nature
Always wanting to have the last word
And so melodramatic!
But I don’t mind
Nature is part of me
Sky, Ocean, Life, humans
You are all part of me and I am part of you
You make me who I am
And I am pretty remarkable
(And remarkably pretty!)
Even if I say so myself
My story—
This Earth Odyssey—
Is your story
And at heart it is a story of love:
My love for you
And (I truly believe)
Your love for me
— Wayne Visser