In 1969, my 10th grade English teacher introduced the class to Haiku. We were given a homework assignment of writing a standard form Haiku. It would be another year before the first Earth Day, but I was a boy scout. I loved camping, fishing and hiking, so I was already concerned about soil pollution because of the town dump behind the houses up the street from me. I ended up writing ten Haiku verses. I wish I could remember them all, but I only know the first two and the last one.

Earth Haiku

See the great mountain

Once it was filled with much life

But man has killed it

Life flows in rivers

But we use it carelessly

And now it is dead

Father forgive them

For they know not what they do

Nor care much, Amen