“Why so glum, Mother Earth?” Father Time asked.
She put her hand to her cheek, looked up at him and said, “Same old, same old.”
“Nobody sees that more clearly than I, Mother. You’d think the powers that be would get it by now.”
Mother Earth sighed a sad sigh, then said, “The powers that be and everyone else. I’ve done just about all I can do to get their attention. I do not like being angry, and being ignored is maddening.”
Father Time said, “It drives me crazy, too, when they waste me by talking about cycles and such, thinking ‘This, too, shall pass.’”
“Why can’t they see it is their problem, that what they’re doing is hurting us as much as everybody else? I am as fragile as you, Father Time. Why don’t they know that?”
“It’s all their machines and technology, Mother. Chemicals, additives, their wasteful ways. They are selfishly destroying more than they are creating but are blind to that. And all that hot air coming out of Washington and elsewhere does its own damage.”
“I am at my wit’s end wondering what else we can do,” Mother Earth said, looking desperately at Father Time.
He shook his head. “I’m just like Ol’ Man River, Mother. I just worry and keep on aging. Despite the abuse you take, you’re still beautiful and young enough to keep on raising that ruckus you’ve been doing of late.”
“I’m a mother, not a monster, Father Time. All I want is love and caring from my children. I know it’s difficult to love someone who is so angry but maybe they’ll come to realize that my anger is all about my love for them. Can anyone blame me for hoping that old saying is true: ‘What you give is what you get?’ Maybe, just maybe, they’ll choose to do a better job of loving me.”
“I sure hope you’re right, Mother. No one’s better at being in the moment than I am but I constantly worry about future generations. I know we both do.”
Mother Earth sighed her sad sigh once more. “Their Earth Day is sweet, probably makes them feel like they ‘… Remember Mama.’ But it’s looking at last year’s birthday card and hearing nothing ever since.”
“You’re right, Mother Earth. One day just won’t do it. Not even one month. Every day needs to be Earth Day with everyone consciously working to keep you beautiful.”
“And smiling,” she said. “I don’t like all these wrinkles my anger and worrying give me.”