Earth: Your Mother I'll Be (Monday Poem)

by Allan Wolf


I'm Earth. I'm your mother and cradle in one,
a love like no other in sight of the sun.
I offer you shelter, the whole human race.
I'll be your safe haven in vast lonely space.

My large iron core plus my speedy rotation
keep all of you safe from the sun's radiation,
creating a mighty magnetic force field
that causes the wild solar whirlwinds to yield.
And due to my ozone's thick UV deflection,
my atmosphere offers you sunburn protection.
I'm seven parts water, three other parts land.
I'll give you a drink and a dry place to stand.
I'll give you bright day, and I'll give you dark night.
My average temperature's just about right.
My equator is hot. And my ice caps are cold.
And I'm just over 4.5 billion years old.
But that's barely a baby in universe years.
Near eight billion people in both hemispheres,

without hesitation, I shelter you all:
the whole human race on a small blue ball.
You'll all be my baby. Your mother I'll be.
I take care of you. Will you take care of me?



from The Day the Universe Exploded My Head: Poems to Take You into Space and Back Again
by Allan Wolf, illustrated by Anna Raff
Candlewick Press, 2019