On Burnaby Mountain
angels of Armageddon gather
to see which end
a divided human race will choose –
a sacred site in Nature’s kingdom
guarded pristine and pure
by centuries of Squamish keepers,
a place of generation for animals and birds
a tree-haven forest temple
crowning the heights,
trust of green treasure for the planet’s promise.
Dark forces rising will cut it down
drill and de-forest
thrust pipe lines through a virgin soil
to carry black bitumen to innocent sea-shores
risk a spill of pollution with no remedy
on settlements, all life the waves have held.
Profit the only quest on terrain of beauty,
ecology of interconnection pillaged.
This is the tipping point
the summit of prophecy–
the planet slides into a climate
that no longer sustains.
Here we make a stand,
dark forces, angels of light,
a battle to the end of days.
Choose your side.
Katherine L. Gordon
Injunction against righteous protest day,
November, 2014.
You can hear Katherine’s poem on the World Poetry Café Radio Show Tuesday night between 9-10 PM on Vancouver Co-op Radio (CFRO 100.5 FM), with your ever-eloquent hosts, Ariadne Sawyer and Israel Mota.