Analysis of The Rape of Mother Earth



                    The Rape of Mother Earth
                                                   by Sandra DeForge

When I achieve the age of the Elm and Oak, must I suffer the endless, desolate screams of the wind, unfettered, shrieking, and howling?
Battling against the corporal discipline of Mother Nature’s caprice?
Compelled by hidden forces to experience the enslaving eyes of the night.
Eternally watching, forever judged, always condemned.
What then of my agonizing screams of help that go unheeded?

When I attain the age of the vast, ancient, ravaged deserts
I will plead, “Do not force me to endure the long black shadows of indignity,”
Contrived by the hand of the punishing, blistering sun.
Whom I did not grant the permission to embrace, to touch, to violate,
and eventually, attempt to destroy me.
What then of my agonizing screams of help that go unheeded?

When I evolve into the hoary maturity of the caves concealed deep in the hills,
Will I have the courage to give forth the product of my womb, a rebirth?
An innocent brought unknowing into a world of fleshy avarice and greed.
Or was I damned the moment of my birth to be fertile,
incredulous, questioning, and lacking the love of the interlopers of my bounty?
What, then, of the agonizing screams of help that go unheeded?

When I reach the lifespan of a generation of planets and stars,
will I be able to have a love of another, electing this choice truly
not by obsession, covetousness, or the misfortunes since my birth?
Will I be able to experience a heart, a touch, an essence again
and that which is called a soul: with hands carefree and unimpeded by greed?
What then of my agonizing screams of help that go unheeded?

If, however, I am never to acquire a capacity to savor, touch,
and relinquish me without faltering and fear.
To bestow of my flesh, and bear of my flesh, all that is love.
If I am never to discover and convey the sincere wonders of passion,
will I ever be strong enough to endeavor and achieve any age?
Then will my agonizing screams of help be heeded?


Scheme ax xxxxB xcdxcB xaexcb xcaxeB xxxdxx
Poetic Form
Metre 011101 11010 110101101011110010100110101010010 1000101001001101001 011101010100011101 0100100101101 1111100011111010 110101101101010 1111111101011110100 01101101001001 111110010101111100 001000011011 1111100011111010 1101010100100101011001 111010111010111001 11001010010111010001 11110101111110 010010001001101001110 1110100011111010 111011001011001 11110110110100101110 11010110010111 1111010100010111001 0111101111001011 1111100011111010 11011101010001001101 001010110001 101111011111111 11110101000100110110 111011011010001101 1111000111110
Characters 2,061
Words 383
Sentences 19
Stanzas 6
Stanza Lengths 2, 5, 6, 6, 6, 6
Lines Amount 31
Letters per line (avg) 50
Words per line (avg) 11
Letters per stanza (avg) 261
Words per stanza (avg) 59

About this poem

This poem tells the story of the European invasion and the way they destroyed the wealth of our Mother Earth She is asking if she will ever again be the same and be able to reproduce any of her lost bounties.

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Written on June 05, 2015

Submitted by smcgrath13 on September 22, 2022

Modified on April 16, 2023

1:55 min read
74

Sandra DeForge

Native American heritage, Sub-chief of my tribe. I am a retired Family Nurse Practitioner, widow, a member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, National Society Colonial Dames XVII Century, and Society of New England Women. more…

All Sandra DeForge poems | Sandra DeForge Books

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