An Open Letter of Apology for Earth Day

This article was originally published January 1, 2018. We have re-posted it for Earth Day.

I am compelled to apologize for my species.

I know the cruelty humans are capable of

And do commit.

I know the heartlessness and darkness

That lives and thrives inside many of them.

I know their apathy and hate.

I have witnessed and experienced their indifference.

I know their greed and selfishness,

Their ruthlessness

For I have been and continue to be

One of their victims,

As do friends of mine.

I have seen and experienced

Their utter contempt towards others.

I have too often seen their ignorance

And absolute stupidity,

Kill and maim

Their own kind.

I know what their self importance and

Mistaken sense of superiority does to others of their own species,

And to you.

Their lack of humility has put us in the dire situation

we are in now,

And has put you in as well.

I apologize

Out of utter disappointment and despair.

I mostly apologize for those of us who do have

some semblance

Of intelligence, compassion

And even a bit of humility,

For not overpowering those dark souls that don’t.

They are our kind,

it is our responsibility to see that intelligence,

Compassion and reason prevail.

We have failed ourselves, our own species,

And worse of all, you.

You, more than any of us

have suffered the worse abominations

That humans can think up.

My oppression and sufferings still do not compare to yours.

You most of all are the most innocent victims.

You live your lives as you should,

Overcoming hardships and obstacles,

Living within the Earth’s boundaries.

But no obstacles you face

compare to those perpetrated by humans.

We force our way in and make your world and lives impossible.

We have wiped out thousands of species.

The ones that remain

we keep teetering on the brink of extinction

Until we see fit to destroy them as well.

We steal your homes for our own.

Even our domestic animal neighbors are treated

No better than the ground we pollute

And the water we fill with our own filth.

They are beaten, neglected, abandoned,

Set on fire, shot, eaten, and tortured in unimaginable ways

yet some humans are able to imagine it

and carry through with it.

I apologize for my species for having no self control,

No respect for the sacredness of life,

No gratitude for the world they’ve been given,

The air, the water, the soil.

I apologize for the utter stupidity and arrogance that prevails among my species,

And I apologize that I and those like me in my species

Have not been strong enough, powerful enough,

Nor numerous enough to be the rule and not the exception.

I look into your eyes and see the innocence and joy

you have for life

And your wisdom.

I look into your faces and see the confusion and disappointment you feel

In such an overwhelmingly forceful

and overpopulated species.

We have pushed our way through this world

Using our arrogance as justification.

We not only destroyed many of you

And polluted your worlds,

Killed your families,

Taken your children,

And shrank your homes and thus your populations,

But in the process

In our all too common ineptitude

We have made the bell toll for us as well.

Our time here is limited

Ending sooner than was intended

Due to nothing more than our greed.

But I apologize because your demise will come as well

Sooner than ours.

And for no other reason than going about your own lives,

Living your lives as you should,

Overcoming hardships and obstacles

Living within the Earth’s boundaries.

May God forgive us

And show us more mercy than we showed you.