Another hillside torn apart
To build a “nature trail”
Another canyon ranch estate
‘Till autumn winds prevail
Flatten out this mountain
We all voted to displace
Then build a jumbo water park
To fill the empty space
Corporations in control
Their power makes me shiver
Spilling oil in our oceans
Dumping poison in our rivers
A Hummer parked outside the school
While mama runs inside
For a minute or an hour
Spewing carbon dioxide
Tearing up the forests
For cattle grazing land
We’re not happy ‘till we see
A world covered in sand
Decimate the people
Who make the land their home
Then honor them in a museum
New York, London and Rome
All the fish and birds are gone
I can hear the ice shelf heating
How much more will you allow?
When our time here now is fleeting
I’m standing on the last green place
And the future’s growing bleaker
Soon the trees will be erased
And my breath is growing weaker
Mother, can you hear me now?
My human heart’s still beating
Mother, can you hear me now?
But I can’t feel you breathing
Mother, can you hear me now?
By Nita Lawson