1. Eichah / Lament for the Earth: Tisha B'Av 2010
By Tamara Cohen
Gone from Appalachia -
her mountaintop glory;
mined by Massey Energy
without compassion.
Children sick from air and water,
stumble weak before King Coal.
All that was precious in the days of our youth,
Earth recalls in woe and sorrow.
Her creatures die with none to help them,
at the hands of Exxon, now BP.
World leaders shrug
and look on helpless.
Our people who respected life,
have come to defile it.
We have stripped Earth naked,
she shrinks back.
Oily waves slap the sand like a soiled hem;
we were heedless of the cost of our appetite.
We have sunk appallingly, there is no comfort.
See, Breath of Life, this misery; how our avarice jeers!
Greed has laid hands on all dear to us.
Your sanctuary plundered by multinationals
full of contempt for Your holy community.
The Earth’s poor cry out as they search for nourishment;
indigenous communities trade resources for food,
to keep themselves alive.
Hashivenu Yahh elecha v’nashuva, hadesh yameinu kekedem.
Let us return, help us repent,
You Who Breathe all Life;
Breathe us, Breathe us,
Breathe us into a new path.
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