Life form patenting is a little know issue in the US though there is a growing movement against it abroad. Corporations in the Global North can now patent species and their variations which originate in the Global South and have been nurtured for centuries by the Southern populations. Privatizing and commodifying species takes them away from the public good to create profit for a few. This new form of colonization is supported by international laws presently being forged under pressure by the US.
This is the tree of life,
This is the tree of life,
This is the living tree,
That branch is you
This branch is me
This tree is no one’s property.
This is the tree of life,
This is the tree of life,
Patenting forbids the fruit,
It takes the seeds and blights the roots,
It steals poor people’s
Right to food.
This is the tree of life,
This is the tree of life,
You cannot commodify
The gifts of nature, earth and sky
Our genes are not to sell or buy.
This is the tree of life,
This is the tree of life,
We must respect the innocence
Of humans animals and plants
And their internal spiral dance.
This is the tree of life,
This is the tree of life,
This is the living tree,
That branch is you
This branch is me
This tree is no one’s property.
(Meet Mago Contributor) Genevieve Vaughan.
This is a beautiful poem with a frightening theme. We are part of Nature – not the reverse – our hubris will one day become our down fall.