Hymn for a Dying Planet

Dear Lord and Father, I repent

of years I did betray

the beauty of this world you've lent,

nor held it safe for your advent,

but watched its slow decay.

In mankind's sin, we broke this Earth

and poisoned what You made.

With each lost species' squandered worth,

we've multiplied our guilty dearth

of wisdom we've obeyed.

If it be true that you redeem

a sinner such as me,

I pray for Earth a new regime

to raise it back to health supreme,

to all that it can be.

Oh, let me play my part in this,

to make your world more pure.

I'll help repair what's now amiss,

from mountaintop to deep abyss.

Make me part of your cure.

Amen!

Copyright ©2018, Paul H. Harder II

This poem is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 4.0 License.

This poem can be sung to the same tune as “Dear Lord and Father of Mankind” – but I would be pleased if some bright composer were to make a whole new tune for it.

The photo is mine, from the Canadian Rockies.