Poetry and Prayers for the People and Land of Japan

The following poems and prayers for the People and Land of Japan were written in the weeks following the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami
by writers in Writing to Feed the Soul Groups in Santa Cruz, California.

Click here to read poetry and prayers for The Waters of Japan

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In Two Feet of Sacred I Pray for Peace – Mariabruna Sirabella

I. AIR
Chaos encircles my home.
The storm relentlessly unleashes
fetid winds drenched in rain.

I clean two feet of space in front of me.

Like the ancient woman of lore
I sit on an old stool
murmuring to the hearth,
breathing patience in the foodstuff.

I rock back and forth
waiting
for medicine to fill my silence.
Outside the wind howls
caught between branches and overhangs.
I distill patience.

II. WATER
All around me is chaos.
In the mortal silence
an occasional assault
of debris floating on ill-placed water
deafens the heart.

On a broken box I sit holding my ritual pipe.

Two or three parched eyed wanderers
gather to stare
at the random fragments of medicine
graciously laid on two feet of dry land.

What are you doing?

I listen to time.
I urge its passing with my breath,
with little clouds of smoke I hasten its step.

Oh, the minutes, days and years
needed to dry the land
and burn the rubble
and time,
oh how much time to mend the hearts
to accompany the souls of those surprised in mid-living
by the innocent murderous waves.

I smoke.

III. FIRE

I am surrounded by chaos.

The stench of burnt flesh and blistered homes
saturate my clothes.
Shouts and explosions shake the air.

On my knees I enclose two feet
with rocks and dried leaves,
my tears bless the soil.

I don’t cry for me or for you,
not for sadness or fear.
I am not lost.

I bring my waters to these fires
that are turning the hearts of people
against hope and life
and the future of children.

Small moisture
on scorched wounded land.
A just battle of titans.

The only prayer I have.

 

Blessed Be the Magnificence of Mud – Mariabruna Sirabella

Tugged in the humid folds of roots
low beneath the giant oak tree,
in the moist darkness I hear
the faint hiss of suckling.

Shup, shup – patiently they sip
from the subterranean river
of millions miniscule droplets,
creeping slowly imbibing the soil
at imperceptible pace
in the underground opacity of Her womb.

Indistinguishable is
water from earth
only the tenacity of roots
distills nourishment
from the unlikely marriage
of liquidity and density.

Down there in that thickness
I call upon you today,
hidden in the tangle of ignored tentacles
brimming with worms and millipedes
and hatching eggs of unsightly insects
leathered with slime and sticky membranes.

There – where the pearly shine of rain drops
and the crystal sparks of waterfalls
and the rushing tumble of mighty rivers
and the otherworldly transparency of the alpine lake

There
where the heart-stopping jade
sapphire, turquoise and opal loveliness,
and the unbelievable green eyes of the Goddess of Springs
and the deep blues of unfathomable depth
There
where beauty is swallowed for love of life,
there in the world of roots
I bow my head and present my prayers,
there my heart pleads with sounds of healing.

Please listen, please hear
the loving gratitude
that seldom reaches
all the way here.

Please bless us.
Please answer.
Please be.

 

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I See You There — Susan Rothenberg

(To an unknown woman in the north of Japan)

I see you there
You’re still alive
The rubble fell all over you
But it didn’t kill you

You’re all alone
There’s just your breath
And daylight,
And then dark again

The shock’s worn off
You’re feeling everything
But its not familiar

I know you’re there
I am with you
I mean completely
I sip water for you
I cover myself with blankets for you
I am still surrounded by all I have known
For you

I hear your thoughts
You are brave
You are not brave
Never never never was this a possibility
Not even a nightmare

I will be dead soon
I will never see my beloveds
Or hear their sweet voices
My body is breathing itself
My mind never stops
Oh please stop
Pain comes and stays
I sleep pain goes
My little boy will always and forever be little

I am helping you find your memories
So the hours will be full of love
My heart is breaking for you
I find you and drip water down to you
I pray for you
I cry for you
I drink this tea for you

By now you have found a way to be with being
The slit of sky that is your view
I give thanks for it for you
A cloud a star or sometimes blue
That’s it
But you’ll take it

I am you
I lie there to give you a break
Sometimes

And there’s the angel who visits you
She visits all of you there
Uniting you with your family
Kissing your tears
Her warm light is your sustenance

Who knew that cup of tea would be your last
Who knows
This cup of tea may be my last
But if not
I will live my life for you

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Prayer for Japan – Andrea van de Loo

No barriers between my heart and yours
Wherever you are, your concerns are mine.
We all drink from the same water,
Walk the same dirt, breathe each other’s
Molecules of fear and joy.
We all want to be free and safe and happy.
So simple our needs.

I reach my hand to yours as you
Reach out to your neighbor
We are coming together as one family,
one tribe of rainbow warriors,
brothers and sisters praying and working
to protect and heal our embattled planet,
our suffering waters.

My deepest gratitude goes to all those
Men and women who pour water on the
Fukushima plant, knowing full well that
They are being contaminated.
Grateful to the Japanese people for their
Courage and their dignity in the midst
Of such overwhelming destruction
And ongoing danger.

I pray that the boiling immensity of powers
Unleashed in those nuclear reactors
Calm now, and that Japan will be spared
A second nuclear holocaust.
I pray that we learn to live simply and
Respectfully of each other and of our
Great beleaguered Mother earth
And cease playing with those of Her forces
That are really too enormous for us to handle-
Be it drilling for oil in deep waters or
Playing God as we split atoms to fuel our
Insatiable appetite for energy.

Now that we are finally getting to know and
Touch one another from all the farthest
Reaches around the globe
I pray we’ll have the chance to create
the life we all long for -
One large caring family feeding one another
Dancing, loving and praying together.

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Prayer  – Marigold Fine

God, Goddess, All that is –
Thank you for this amazing life which blesses us–
for this beautiful planet on which to dance our lives,
for nourishment from plants, grains, herbs,
for beautiful flowers,
for the animals that share companionship with us,
that give of themselves and their lives,
for air and water, sun and moon, distant stars and galaxies,
to tell us of our place in the vast universe.

We know we are at a critical moment.
Natural and human-made disasters have occurred which put our planet in danger –
compromise life for all living beings.
Humans have not learned to follow nature’s guides and cues, symbols and signs.
We dance like bulls with hummingbirds.

We have combined earth’s elements in reckless ways.
We have been playing with fire, as children with matches and piles of dried kindling.
And now, we have come to this tragic time –
when the vast blue Pacific receives the poison we have created,
and meltdowns of nuclear power plants are imminent.

So well intentioned we were –
finding new ways to provide power and energy for humans on the move –
faster, faster, newer, newer.
We have run to edge of the cliff and below us our unknown future lies waiting.

Ah, so, what is there to do now but pray.
We visualize positive outcomes,
draw upon our inner resources,
tools we’ve been preparing for challenging times.

We bless the elements that gift us with life.
Thank them. Bow in deep gratitude.
Use them with utmost care and consciousness.
Conserve and preserve them,
as if alteration of their molecular structure
could bring life on earth to an end.
Because it can.

So, I prostrate myself at the seashore,
where the waves break gently now at the place where earth and waters meet.
I use my heart, my mind, my power and my imagination.
I send out a prayer to traverse the great ocean –
to the island we call Japan, where the people are brave and kind,
suffering great loss, living with uncertainty each moment –
as we all really are.

And I pray –
Find a way, humans.
Find a way, God, Goddess, All that is –
that disaster be averted,
that repair and healing occur,
that we turn around the unthinkable, unspeakable possibility we fear and dread.

Miracles occur. We know this.
May we learn from this.
Evolve.
Understand how our small actions are woven into the tapestry of the whole.
May we all step into the hoop.
May we all remember our connection in the Circle of Life.

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Recipe for Disaster – Cheryl Gettleman

I just want to take the Earth
Like a ball of dough and
Flatten it with a giant cosmic rolling pin
RESHAPE-CUT-ROLL
Before it becomes too stale
Or spoils

I step back
Floured hands on my waist
It does not look right
One side is too dry
This side has too much water
There are cracks
I forgot to roll out the faults
Baking is really a science, you know.
Will it be better when it reforms and re-forms or
Was it meant to bake and burn and
Be taken away in crumbs
By the birds who fly through
Our darkest dreams

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Prayer for the People of Japan – Dinah Davis

People of northern Japan, I weep for you and join you in mourning for everything you have lost. I cannot imagine the uncertainty, insecurity and communal grief that have become part of your lives. I can only hope and pray that you find peace in the knowledge that millions of people around the world are praying for your recovery and healing.

As I sit on my deck in California, overlooking a peaceful creek and tall, beautiful trees, I understand that it can all be taken away in a moment’s time. I remember how you, my brothers and sisters, were just a few months ago sitting in your homes, unaware of what was about to be unleashed upon you. You no doubt felt safe, secure and reasonably sure that the next day would be similar to the previous days of your lives. I empathize with you now as you attempt to put the pieces of your lives back together in some recognizable form. Please do not doubt that they will, eventually, fall back into place. Not in the same form as before but as they are meant to be for the next stage of your journey. Your lost families are with your ancestors and will watch over as you struggle to move on. They are never far away.

Although I am an ocean away from you, I think of you often and pray that you now have shelter and some sense of peace and order. In each day, look for the “overlooked blessings” which can still be found amidst the rubble and grief. Focus on those and your load will be lighter.
 With love, I am your sister across the ocean.

 

Click here to read poetry and prayers for The Waters of Japan