Jane Lewis - Scores for Earth Action

Jane Lewis is a mindfulness teacher, community song leader and songwriter, environmental and peace activist and an eco-poet. Living in Edinburgh, Scotland, she writes to create a sense of interconnection and active hope in this fragile world. Her poetry has been published in Northwords Now and Earth Pathways Diary.

I walk along carefully, very carefully, as if I were on ice that might crack at any moment.
—Jiří Kovanda, Oct 1977, Prague

1. Scatter seed in strath and dell. Be bold. Flick fistfuls of hope.

2. Wake at dawn and witness the sea-sun rising. Float a blessing. Smile.

3. Caress a rock. Find the wisdom of age in ridge and hole. Kiss rough stone.

4. Pluck plastic from the shore. Repurpose wrappers. Make art.

5. Ask permission to forage. Wait for an answer. Pick sparingly as a sacred act.

6. Collect rainwater from rooves and gutters. Send money to water protectors.
Dance naked in the rain.

7. Leave windfalls in the lee of a tree. Feed insects and birds. Celebrate slaters.

8. Sing to dandelions, bright smiles in the grass— and don’t call them “weeds.”
Feed bees.

9. Take underwater photos of magenta maerl. Protest seabed dredging. Swim with awe.

10. Make blackberry ink. Send homemade cards to jailed activists. Invent words.

11. Knit thirteen varieties of apple. Dangle them on the tree. Sing a moonsong.

12. Grow heritage veg. Eat rat’s tail radish and yellow currant tomatoes. Save seed.