Let

Let there be a sacrifice; let it not be of flesh
but of our trappings, our greed for symbols
of status, of speed, our attempts to outrun
our own mortality with stuff that distracts us
from kindness and care for Mother Earth.
Let there be rituals, let hands be joined,
let voices of many timbres lift to fill the air
with songs of birth, of sex, of anguish, of love,
of pain and death: let us sing songs of life. Let
there be diverse groups, let there be inclusion.
Most of all, let there be acceptance and praise
for every child. Let all have opportunities. Let
our only exclusions be hatred and abuse. Let us
find our ways to walk, to run, to cycle and to swim,
to wheel in chairs: let us breathe fierce and free
in unpolluted air. Let cars become dinosaurs,
let planes be grounded, let trains become cleaner,
let us espouse the madness of clear-eyed sanity.
Let us nurture nature, accept our own transience
and surrender to sacred cycles, to promise to leave
only temporary footprints. Let us pray with wise love,
night and day. We need new hope to discern truths
and learn new articles of faith. Let our world survive.