Be There<\/p>\n
By<\/p>\n
Jennifer Angelina Petro<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
You may have seen<\/p>\n
Those videos where<\/p>\n
The camera focuses in<\/p>\n
On one person and then<\/p>\n
Pans out past the tree tops,<\/p>\n
The buildings, the clouds,<\/p>\n
And further backwards<\/p>\n
Through space, until<\/p>\n
The swirling earth<\/p>\n
Grows smaller, and smaller,<\/p>\n
And smaller,<\/p>\n
As the satellite camera<\/p>\n
Continues to draw back<\/p>\n
Revealing solar systems,<\/p>\n
Galaxies, and then more\u2014<\/p>\n
The ever-growing universe.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
This amazement of technology<\/p>\n
Is meant to show us<\/p>\n
Our seeming insignificance<\/p>\n
In the grand scheme of things\u2014<\/p>\n
How little we are, how tiny our earth is,<\/p>\n
How, while we find our rightful<\/p>\n
Place among the galaxies,<\/p>\n
We are still hugely small, invisible<\/p>\n
In the clusters of stars.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I would argue however,<\/p>\n
That you matter; that you,<\/p>\n
Standing there on the little space<\/p>\n
You take\u2014matter.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
And when winter comes,<\/p>\n
And the ground grows cold,<\/p>\n
And the trees weep their true<\/p>\n
Colors into the streets and rivers,<\/p>\n
That if you were to bend down,<\/p>\n
And gently place your hand<\/p>\n
On the hardening ground<\/p>\n
And whisper witnessing words\u2014<\/p>\n
Reminding the earth of the life<\/p>\n
Dreaming within\u2014<\/p>\n
The seeds and sleeping animals\u2014<\/p>\n
That it needn\u2019t be afraid,<\/p>\n
That it needn\u2019t feel it has failed us,<\/p>\n
That it is beautiful and to be honored<\/p>\n
For the spring and summer<\/p>\n
It so lavishly shared with us,<\/p>\n
You would be making a world<\/p>\n
Of difference.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The earth gives, and gives,<\/p>\n
And gives, and it rejoices<\/p>\n
In doing so, and yet, when winter comes,<\/p>\n
And the frost pushes it all down,<\/p>\n
You can stay by its bedside of trees<\/p>\n
And fallow fields, you can<\/p>\n
Sing it soft songs of comfort,<\/p>\n
You can tread lightly<\/p>\n
Over the steeling ground,<\/p>\n
You can remind the earth<\/p>\n
With your every breath,<\/p>\n
Every act of kindness,<\/p>\n
Every prayer,<\/p>\n
That the earth will<\/p>\n
Resurrect, that it will<\/p>\n
Be born again, that it will<\/p>\n
Waken from its frightening sleep,<\/p>\n
And once again, and again,<\/p>\n
And again, bloom, just as<\/p>\n
The universe continues<\/p>\n
To bloom, just as you<\/p>\n
Continue to bloom,<\/p>\n
Just as you realize more, and more,<\/p>\n
And more, how important<\/p>\n
You really are.\u00a0 In the grand<\/p>\n
Scheme\u2014which is, of course,<\/p>\n
Really, a great song–<\/p>\n
Once again, it needs to be<\/p>\n
Said over, and over, and over\u2014<\/p>\n
You matter, you have the powers<\/p>\n
To comfort and heal,<\/p>\n
You have the powers<\/p>\n
To be comforted and healed–<\/p>\n
Because nothing is alone,<\/p>\n
Because everything matters,<\/p>\n
Because we blossom<\/p>\n
Through this universe<\/p>\n
Full of the stuff of stars<\/p>\n
And communities of compassion<\/p>\n
And wonder.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
So, as you stand, be the spring<\/p>\n
And summer for the earth<\/p>\n
As she freezes into her yearly<\/p>\n
Death–be there, be there for her,<\/p>\n
Be for her as the sun is<\/p>\n
For you.<\/p>\n
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