The World Cries to Muted Ears

Lately, the world has felt different. People don’t seem to care for others; they don’t seem to care for the future. Maybe it’s because people don’t see a future, especially one that exists beyond their own lifetimes. Maybe it’s because many have been taught to hate anything that is different, or that they can only get ahead by stepping on the very hands of the world that wants to help them. Whatever is going on, the feeling of indifference is what inspired the creation of “The World Cries to Muted Ears”.

“The World Cries to Muted Ears” is written from the perspective of Mother Earth, a benevolent being who still cares for her children, even as their narcissism leads them down a path of self-destruction. She hopes that humans will care for one another and for all that she provides. Like any mother of a difficult child, Mother Earth wants what is best for her children and feels immense pain not only from their abuse of her, but also from the harm they inflict on themselves.

The piece opens with our current reality. Mother Earth is sighing and crying at the state of humankind. To show humans what kind of beautiful world could exist, she reveals an alternative reality. In it, peace and hope flourish when everyone lives in harmony with one another and with the planet. That vision of utopia is abruptly broken as the present reality returns. As tension rises, Earth begins to cry again, pleading with humanity to look beyond its short-sighted desires. At the end, the piece starts to melt away as Mother Earth cries out to her children. With all hope seemingly lost, one might think that she is the one dying, but the ending instead suggests that humanity has gone extinct because of its own indifference. Mother Earth is then left in silence, scarred by those she so desperately wanted to nurture and protect.

“The World Cries to Muted Ears” is extremely reflective. As someone who finds spirituality in nature, and in the hearts of people and animals, I feel this immense dread as I see humanity disappear, taken over by indifference. Since we come from nature and remain connected to it, Mother Earth’s tears are also our own, revealing what exists in our souls and in the world around us. Still, I have hope. I know that all of our answers exist within us, but we can only find them if we work together with one another and with our creator, whatever name we may give them.