A Promise to Mother Earth

By Leni Marlina

–

Friends,
do you remember the promise we spoke,
beneath the old tree that stood as witness?
This land is the mother who has nourished us,
its water flows in our veins, its air fills our lungs.
We swear to guard its breath,
as we guard our very souls.

Friends,
do not let that promise be buried in the crust of greed.
Do not let the roots that embrace the earth
be torn out by our own hands.
Mother Earth is not just the ground we tread,
she is the life that gives us breath,
a place to return when the world’s shaking tires us.

Friends,
look at the forest that once whispered softly,
now silent, losing its ancient language.
The river that once sang of life,
now murky, carrying tears of sorrow.
We are her children,
and every betrayal of our promise
is a wound we carve into her body.

Friends,
love for Mother Earth is not mere words,
it is the action that plants hope.
Let us hold her hand once more,
replant the trees of prayer,
wash her soil with our devotion.
Our promise is the pulse of her life,
and this love is greater than the fleeting ego.

Friends,
do not betray the mother who faithfully gives,
for the earth is a home that never abandons us,
even though we often neglect it.
In her embrace, there is the future of our children,
and in her heart, there is a prayer that never ceases,
that we may love her again
as we love life itself.

Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, Indonesia, 2020