Even the turtles…

Art - Claire Ling Chi Martin, London, June 2022

Even the turtles all the way down are concerned,
and grumbling.
They feel the Earth 
still turning ‘round on their backs, 
but it’s struggling. 

Bumbling beings 
have cast themselves 
as masters of the planet.
The humbly meek inherit hell,
as the bastards hammer at it. 

They could’ve guarded harmony,
been bards of indigenous wisdom,
instead of harming everything
in the name of 
materialism. 

As if the rock atop the shell
is a bottomless pot of tea,
or tins of stock 
in a shop for sale;
just leaves to be plundered and steeped. 

We’ve cracked the pot, 
spilled the tea,
and the planet will have it no more!
She’ll mend herself with sovereignty 
as humanity bandies and spars. 

The myth of turtles all the way down
is a logical folly they say,
but isn’t the world 
in its own myth now
from farcical justification? 

Leaving the turtles supporting the Earth
as humanity surely does not.
It leads me to ponder 
how poorly we’ve learned,
and which myth ought to be mocked. 

Lee DeNoya - Atlanta, June 2022