Because most of us live in cities we have lost touch with the earth and everything connected with it. We have lost the old sense of well-being that people used to derive from the rural way of life that was somehow sustaining and reassuring.

We have been separated from the spiritual sanctity of forests and we have been denied the comforting familiarity of well-known woodland paths.

A Rose-covered Cottage

The rose-covered cottage is a myth and we have lost our synchronisation with the slow, unhurried earth rhythms that bring in seasonal changes.

We have lost the very essence of our humanity because the urban way of life has desensitised us towards nature.

And so we have plastic trees and artificial roses in our homes and offices to remind us of nature. But it doesn’t work.

Lost in The Rampant Jungles of Civilization

We have become emotionally disorientated and spiritually disconnected because we have lost our way in the rampant jungles of civilization. Concrete jungles that have progressively altered the face of the earth, changed the environment and modified the climate.

Urbanisation and cities erupt about us with tall, forest-like structures of cement and chrome.

Buildings are piled high on one another because space has run out and the pores of the earth are so deeply clogged with concrete that nature cannot breathe.

Instead of wide stretches of land and open fields we have constructions that cover large areas of earth with deep layers of concrete and tar. Jagged horizons of high-rise buildings extend like huge bar graphs into the sky.

All this has taken its toll on our wellbeing causing depression and malaise.

Give me a Garden

We need the open fields.  We need miles of unspoilt land and acres of forest.  But failing that we need gardens.  More and more of them.

Because gardens bring nature back into our lives. They give us tranquillity and re-establish the balance with nature that we need so badly.

A garden may be a poor replica of a rampant jungle but it keeps us in touch with nature and connects us with the earth.

If you liked this you may wish to read:

Patterns in the Sand – A poem about Nature

Patterns in the Sand

No more the rustling in the reeds
where finches shout out from the trees
as sunlight gleams on flashing wings
and yellow feathers drift like leaves;

Where grass nests swing in hammocked cadence
teasing muddied streams below;
and dipping branches brush the froth-foamed
earth-browned water’s bubbling flow.

No more the arches overhead
where branches meet in tunnelled shade
and close by on the shaded banks
the long-legged crane and water-fowl
print cross-hatched patterns on the sand.

For Nature was improved upon;
and altered till the wilds were gone
No mountain springs or inland streams;
but heated pools and cultured zoos;
with neatly labelled bars and cells;
all individual private hells.

Yes, Nature’s been neutered, cramped and computed
Her voice will be muted for decades to come.
She’s been catalogued and classified,
corrected and defined
homogenised and purified,
amended and refined.

Gusts of progress everywhere
Have blasted through the land
And finches’ nests have blown away
Like patterns in the sand.

Copyright 2009

If you liked this you may wish to read:

Have we lost touch with Nature?