Ray’s Rays
Number 22: It All Comes From the Earth
By
Radiance Angelina Petro
Everything ultimately comes from the earth.
All paper, fabrics, food—even metals and plastics.
They all have there basic foundations in materials from the earth.
For this reason, I believe everything is, in its own way—alive,
and I live my life knowing this. I express this
in different ways. One way is that I thank everything–
my car, the washing machine, the stairs, the chairs, the tables,
and appliances. Call me crazy, I don’t give a fuck.
I thank the earth for everything I eat, wear, and that sustains me
physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
I also thank the people who built the stairs and the car
and the clothes they make, and the food they farm that I eat.
At some point someone cut the wood, pounded the nails,
and measured everything to make the stairs I climb everyday.
Someone’s planted the seeds and harvested the crops.
Someone who has feelings, concerns, secrets, and joys.
Some of these people might even be dead. I thank them anyway.
So, yeah. I think/know/experience everything is alive.
Not in a pantheistic way (which would be fine if I did, of course),
and not in an anthropomorphized way, but in a real, living
way. Everything comes from the living, breathing earth,
and for that I am beyond grateful.