Planet Earth

            
            
             It has to be spread out, the skin of this planet, .
             has to be ironed, the sea in its whiteness; .
            
            
             "In Praise of Ironing" Pablo Neruda .
             It has to be loved the way a laundress loves her linens,.
             the way she moves her hands caressing the fine muslins .
             knowing their warp and woof, .
             like a lover coaxing, or a mother praising. .
             It has to be loved as if it were embroidered .
             with flowers and birds and two joined hearts upon it. .
             It has to be stretched and stroked. .
             It has to be celebrated. .
             O this great beloved world and all the creatures in it. .
             It has to be spread out, the skin of this planet. .
             The trees must be washed, and the grasses and mosses. .
             They have to be polished as if made of green brass. .
             The rivers and little streams with their hidden cresses .
             and pale-coloured pebbles .
             and their fool's gold .
             must be washed and starched or shined into brightness, .
             the sheets of lake water .
             smoothed with the hand .
             and the foam of the oceans pressed into neatness. .
             It has to be ironed, the sea in its whiteness. .
             and pleated and goffered, the flower-blue sea .
             the protean, wine-dark, grey, green, sea .
             with its metres of satin and bolts of brocade. .
             And sky - such an 0! overhead - night and day .
             must be burnished and rubbed .
             by hands that are loving .
             so the blue blazons forth .
             and the stars keep on shining .
             within and above .
             and the hands keep on moving. .
             It has to be made bright, the skin of this planet .
             till it shines in the sun like gold leaf. .
             Archangels then will attend to its metals .
             and polish the rods of its rain. .
             Seraphim will stop singing hosannas .
             to shower it with blessings and blisses and praises .
             and, newly in love, .
             we must draw it and paint it .
             our pencils and brushes and loving caresses .
             smoothing the holy surfaces. .
             During the last week in March 2001, over 200 poetry readings will be occurring throughout the world in conjunction with the United Nations project, "Dialogue Among Civilizations Through Poetry." A contest was held to select a special poem that will be read on all four international venues.