Writing Poetry and Saving the Planet

We’ve all heard the recent news stories about the endangered and resource-exhausted place that us humans call home. No matter what side of the coin you’re on, it’s hard to deny the statistics that show the global temperature soaring, biodiversity lessening and number of species diminishing. One current and highly debated environmental issue is that of the recent illegal forest fires in the Amazon rainforest. Many claim that this event is a turn for the worse, as it’s essentially destroying the “lungs” of our planet, while others argue that these fires inadvertently improve the global economy, while offering jobs for the local community. Whilst I tend to support the views of the former, I can also see how some people would greatly benefit from the latter. So to put these events into perspective, and get clarity about the situation at hand, I turn to poetry.

By reading Small Tree by Marné Prinsloo, I see the action of deforestation in a way I hadn’t thought about before. Small Tree personifies a tree and grants it the power of narration. Seeing the world through the trees eyes, I understand that by killing a single tree, we are killing a vital part of our Earth, a part that demands care and respect just like a human being. Reading “On Deforestation” by Bharti Chandwani grants me another outlook on the importance of a tree, as it lists all the gifts a tree can provide its surrounding environment. After reading these poems, my outlook on deforestation is formed, and I decide to write a poem of my own focussing on the future of the Amazon Rainforest, and in turn, the world.

My poem, called “What Could Have Been”, is a fictional outlook on the world after the Amazon Rainforest is destroyed. “What Could Have Been” summarises all the misdeeds done by man to forests, and serves as a warning to loggers and corporations. In saying this, I am not implying that logging should stop completely, as I also understand the importance of a job and income. At the very least, however, a ban on logging in ancient rainforests such as the Amazon would serve a remarkable purpose. If even one person reads my poem and is inspired to make a change, it will have been worth it.

Below is a PDF copy of my poem. Please view the following links for each poem and the source I viewed them from. Thanks!