by Mary Saracino
What will it take to end
this multi-millennial madness,
this lust for war and power,
this emphasis on fear,
scarcity, competition?
What will it take to wake up,
to say no to all that seeks to harm,
to say yes to all that seeks to heal, to unite
to see that we are kin to all—humans and non-humans,
to celebrate diversity and dance in the arms
of cooperation and love,
a symbiotic tango imbued with gratitude
where flourishing is mutual?
What will it take to uncloud our eyes,
unjail our hearts,
unchain our minds,
free ourselves from the edicts,
the dogmas, the ideologies that spew
hatred, cruelty, lies, and every other
evil known to humankind?
We need circles, not ladders,
communities, not hierarchies.
We are not commodities
to be bought and sold,
and neither is the Earth
with all Her bountiful gifts.
The trees are trembling,
the lands are on fire,
the winds are roaring,
the birds are begging us
to heed the cries of Mother Nature
who gifts us with abundance,
water, rain, wind, food, sunshine, shelter,
asking only for reciprocity, giving
back what we take, honoring Her
by sharing her bounty, not hording it.
We are destroying our only home.
We are polluting our souls.
We are committing ecocide,
decimating everything
that is sacred and true
and vital to our future.
What will it take for us
to reclaim our birthright,
the gifts bestowed upon us by Nature
in all Her many forms?
What will it take for us to walk,
hand-in-hand, arm-in-arm,
shoulder-to-shoulder
to change the world,
dismantle what has been so wrong
for far, far too long?
We need leaders who will lead us
to prosperity and peace,
who will proclaim our joint responsibility
to care for one another and the planet,
who know that might is not right,
that war is not the answer,
that kindness, compassion, empathy
are the seeds we need to sow
to create a better way to live,
build a symbiotic future
where we can all survive and thrive.
What will it take for us
to raise our howling voices,
in unison and proclaim:
“We’ve had enough! You do not own us, or the planet.
We must seize the reins and reinstate sharing and caring,
establish a new way, a better way, before it’s too late!”
Mary Saracino is a novelist, memoir writer, and poet. Her book of poetry, Motherlines, was published by Pearlsong Press (February 2026). She is the author of four novels: Heretics: A Love Story (Pearlsong Press 2014), The Singing of Swans (Pearlsong Press 2006), No Matter What (Spinsters Ink 1993), and Finding Grace (Spinsters Ink 1999), and the memoir, Voices of the Soft-bellied Warrior (Spinsters Ink 2001). She co-edited (with Mary Beth Moser) She Is Everywhere! Volume 3: An anthology of writings in womanist/feminist spirituality (iUniverse 2012), which earned the 2013 Enheduanna Award for Excellence in Women-Centered Literature from Sofia University. 
