The Impact of Humanity
Lilburn, GA
2015, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
The young women tosses her empty cup
On the side of the road
And unbeknownst to her,
She just launched a cycle
That can only end in
Death.
You see, our generation has turned a blind eye to
All of the problems that still plague our society.
We have achieved great technological advancements,
But at what cost?
Are we so self-centered that we have forgotten
All about pollution?
The Great Pacific garbage patch was not an accident, people!
We caused it.
Humans did.
Animals are dying because of our recklessness.
And what about our future generations?
Our planet has existed for billions of years
Without our presence.
And now, we are destroying our precious oceans.
What will we do when all the water is polluted?
What will we do when all the fish die off?
Will we do anything?
We haven’t before.
Will we realize how damaging we are to life as a whole?
Will we finally see how powerful we are?
Will we save this planet, or will we destroy it?
These are not questions you should be asking
In the future.
These are questions we need to consider now.
These questions hold the key to our survival.
However,
Will we answer them?
Reflection
Whenever my family would go to the beach, I would, as most little kids do, spend my whole time in the water, building sand castles, or running around. As I got older, I finally noticed all of the pollution that surrounded me. Having previously been oblivious to this issue, the amount of trash shocked me. However, the majority of my anger was directed to the humans who put it there, rather than the trash itself. This inspired me to start getting more involved with ocean advocacy. While in elementary school, I joined the “Earth Patrol” club, where I helped make posters about our oceans. In middle school, I came to meetings of the “Furever Loved” group, which helped animals in the shelter. Although I did help other animals, my main focus was still the ocean. I believe that this work inspired me to create my poem. Instead of spouting out various facts about ocean pollution, I decided it would be better to speak directly to the people of this Earth. I tried to show people how their actions have an effect on the entire world. I want people to realize that we are not the only ones on this planet, and to inspire them to make a change.