Leon Petty
The Rites of Passage
To see the evil of the Earth
and not to see the evil in myself is blindness
I am thus like a room that holds the cold
Where then is my or the Earth’s salvation
For to seek out change I must seek out what can save
both the Earth and myself
or I save nothing
The lesson of my life provides
that I by myself change nothing
so in its stead to change
I must change myself
The Earth will change according to the roots
that churn within its bed
To foster good I must find the goodness
that can follow the paths of light
Paths that cannot exalt myself