Earth’s plea   Lusting for mastery of death, you, in    your arrogance, Have raped my secret depths, forged weapons    from my fire, Blighted my pure breath and poisoned    living water. You render me infertile: my off-spring are    still born, And mind-engendered monsters rise to    plague you. How can I come to you, recoiling from    your plunder? But I your very ground must shake beneath you To open wide, devouring my despoiler. The sun will darken, forests rot, crops fail    and moulder, Wild birds fall screaming from the sky; For you have fouled the sanctuary, excreted    in the fountain,   Hurled curses on the wind, blasphemed against    the sky; You plot, you plan, control, rehearse, prevent, Resist the reach, the leap of spontaneity, refuse    the exaltation. Man, you have engineered your Mother’s    murder. Yet do I sue for peace with you And offer loving terms for your desired    surrender. You may propitiate, appease, weep for    your sacrilege And purify polluted streams with tears    of expiation. Come. Enter me naked, vulnerable, consenting; Descend the darkness, dare the burial chamber, Submit to death a willing victim. Perform the act of sacrifice: for I can heal,    make whole.   Previous poem cont.