Poet's note:The World Peoples' Conference on Climate Change was recently held in Bolivia. There was mention of the need for a Universal Declaration on the Rights of Mother Earth. Read more at the Peoples World Conference on Climate Change  - Mankh

On Behalf of Those Who Speak Different Languages

and the Winds whispered
"some people don't hear our voices
except if we blow real hard
which tires us out
so please speak for us
who you also call the Air
so we can breathe easy"

and the Earth trembled
"sometimes i get scared too
so please be courageous for me
and sometimes i get angry
so please stay calm for me
and sometimes i get sad
so please pat me somewhere
but mostly i like to be happy
as when a vegetable takes root
and remember to listen
to my sisters the Winds"

and the Waters rambled
"we can't help it
we go where we must
yet sometimes we go nowhere at all
which kinda stinks but the frogs don't mind
but it's hard to bathe ourselves
and sometimes we go up like a fountain
but it's our nature to bow down
so please keep us clean
and listen to my sisters
the Winds and the Earth"

and the Fire said
"look it's simple
i can cook your food and warm you
and i can also send you running
so please respect me
and listen to my sisters
the Winds and the Earth
and my brothers the Waters"

and our brother the Sun said
(but he didn't say it rather he sang
yet the language is so ancient that
hardly anyone could understand
but it has a musical vibration
so ALL the beings can feel it
like how it warms your skin)
what he said was
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
it's all the same to me . . .
but as to what the Birds and Trees
the Fish and Four-Leggeds
the Insects and Rocks and Plants
and ALL our friends say
well you'll have to listen and see
and hear and touch and taste
for yourselves because
the local dialects are so varied
but if you pay attention to the Winds
and the Earth and the Waters and the Fire
they will help guide you in the correct direction . . ."

Mankh (Walter E. Harris III) is a writer, small press publisher, and Turtle Islander. He is a frequent guest poet and essayist on Axis of Logic. Visit his literary website

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