Perhaps the world is a living thing,
and we're merely parasites living on it.
At first, so small and insignificant
no one could imagine our causing any real harm,
so we fed on, greedily and without remorse
as parasites do, but now it has become clear
we have sickened the Earth almost to death.
Oh, it's a dangerous game parasites play,
slowly devouring their host all the while knowing
that when it dies, they must abandon ship or die, too.
Some are already searching the skies for another host,
but this merely indicates our desperate situation.
There are no viable alternatives,
so we are finally beginning to realize,
what we should have known all along:
our fates are tied together.
The only hope is to transform the relationship
from a parasite and its host to a child and its mother,
but that will require a more fundamental change:
The Earth can no longer be something we merely use;
it has to become something we love.