The Holy Land is All the Earth
by Louis Alemayehu
Some times I hardly know what to say
In this High Tech Dark Age:
“…and one day a Sun will rise with healing in its wings.”
And loving dew will sparkle on our bare flesh,
Innocent, naked…
Do you know the way from here to there dear friend?
Through the storm?
Are the rocks still screaming ?
When I am silent, really quiet
I hear voices:
The Holy Land is all the Earth
And all the Earth is holy.
The Earth is our only physical home… Creation,
Yes, all the Earth is holy:
The water – holy,
The air – holy,
The creatures that crawl and the creatures that swim – holy,
The 2-legged and the winged – holy,
Let us touch with kind hands
Blessing all that lives,
All that laments.
Rise! Be robust and brave in the face of dawn.
YOU are the face of Dawn,
Face it!
Integrity of Water, Light and Love can sustain us now.
THIS is the Fire Next Time
NOW, at last real power!
And the new world begins on this breath.
Breathe…
Now is the time, now is the time
Embracing in the silence of our after-weeping,
Resting on the breast
Of Our Mother’s Sacred Heart
Beating, beating, beating…
“The Holy Land is All the Earth” Louis Alemayehu, written in 2007. Reprinted here by permission of the author.
Louis is a community leader, elder, activist, teacher and artist who is a member of the Wild Path Collective in Osceola, WI. Much of Louis’ non-artistic work today is centered on food security, climate change, human rights, and environmental justice.