Oh the sin of human greed
That marred our paradise!
It spawned in us a fatal need
For a lethal merchandise
Which cannot starving children feed
But cruel wars devise!
We who sowed that noxious seed
With death are called to dice!
Nature’s vengeance now we face!
Broke she all our fences
Which kept apart a race from race.
Her wrath defies defenses!
Trips by rail and air and sea
Have come to a deadly halt.
Social mammals though we be,
Now loners through our fault.
It’s our wild pursuit of lust
That made us eat the fruit!
The cunning snake that eats the dust
Has made us each a brute.
Betray we did the Maker’s trust
And did Her Will dispute
Repent we will; repent we must
And ne’er the earth pollute
As we cease to hurt the Earth,
Observe its vengeful ban,
Witness we a second birth
In Nature’s world-wide span
Skies are blue; trees are green
The roads devoid of fumes
Birds are heard and even seen!
Its role the Earth resumes.
Time has come to change our ways
And treat this cosmic shrine
As a consecrated space
To hear the voice divine!
Let us spend the rest of days
Toeing Nature’s line;
For the Holy Bible says
“Abide by God’s design”
Fr Aloysius Pieris is a Sri Lankan Jesuit, theologian, intellect, and the founding director of the Tulana Research Center for Encounter and Dialogue. He is part of the Buddhist Studies and Dialogue Group of the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific in collaboration with the Jesuit Conference of South Asia.