In praise of knowing our worth

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human life is worth $0
this is what we were told earlier this year
by the head of the EPA
at least they are being honest
for those in power
have long treated people
as if this is true
while pretending
they believe otherwise
at least they’ve admitted
how they really feel
this statement, its brutal truth,
alone is worth a headline
and garnered many at first
back in january when it was said
but in the rush of daily ruin
it was soon forgotten
as so many other atrocities have been
but there is a further truth yet to unpack
which reveals much about our relationship to nature
there is more to this
than just another bureaucrat
willing to sell out our species
the reason they felt the need
to say aloud what they have long whispered
or implied through their policies
was because the EPA stated in its mission
that we have an obligation
to protect the environment
because of the cost to human life if we do not
even the environmentalists
could only advocate for nature
for the sake of humans
and so our government stated publicly
that our lives mean nothing
so they could start to log and drill
without having to worry about the cost
the cost to humans, at least
who would worry about the cost to the trees?
what this reveals
other than our sheer determination
to kill ourselves
is that we have only protected the environment
because we see that it serves us
but I want to protect the tree
because I love the tree
not because it gives us fresh air
or wood for our houses and fires
but because the tree is alive
and is home to squirrels
and bluebirds and wrens
and white flowers in spring
I want to protect the river
not because it provides water
to be used on lawns
or for laundry
but because it glints in the sun
because it cuts canyons
because it is alive
I want to protect the mountains
not because if we explode them
we can find all sorts of pretty metals inside
but because they loom like low laying gods
just on the horizon line
so soft and green edged
so tall and towering
because they are alive
because they have been here
so much longer than us
and have so much to teach
if we only stop and listen
I do not want to protect the environment
because it provides me with life
humans are just messy marginalia
on the cosmic novel
we are not the main characters
we should think ourselves lucky
that we are surrounded
by all this abounding beauty
not because it is deemed valuable
but because it is beautiful
and because it is alive
and if we can’t witness all this
as its own living thing
worthy of life for its own sake
and not for ours
then those in power are right
we are truly worth nothing