Does It Hurt? Poem by Milton Crum

Does it hurt you, Mother Earth,
when we slice your flesh to insert
the structures in which we live and work?

Does it hurt
when we drill into your body to extract
materials that we use and then dump back
in different form, both useless and polluting?

Does it hurt
when we cut the plants
you provide for beauty and for eating,
or when we fell the trees
you supply for cooling and heating?

Does it hurt
when we perforate the atmosphere, so it can
neither shield us from ultra-violet rays
nor protect you from excess heat?

Do you feel the hurt
for yourself or for us
as we destroy the home you lend us
to care for and enjoy?

(July,2006)