Warrior’s Breath
Red Deer, Canada
2020, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Generation Z: the final letter of the alphabet,
the omega, the seven trumpets.
Do you expect us to cower
behind our screens
while the air chokes itself?
while the sea slowly drowns in debris?
while the land wastes away to dust?
Have you forgotten
that She is our mother, too?
We try to shout like
we are taller than the evergreen trees.
Yet, our eyes never see much
higher than five feet.
All we’ll have to do then
is band together
and push each other up
so we can see the defiant azure sky
so we can see the twisting path of the cerulean rivers
so we can see the technicolour leaves spiraling in the air
on the other side.
We will be in history’s book
but not as the last chapter.
Our story will not end with
a period but with a bold semicolon;
we are not the end of a sentence,
we are the pausing breath that
helps the future carry on.
Reflection
Reflection
I wrote this poem in a flurry of turbulent emotions. There is a general consensus about the younger generations that we have a lack of empathy for the Earth and that all we do is focus on our screens. I simply wanted to show the world that this is not the case. We care deeply about our planet, and even though we are young, we won't hesitate to speak up about issues targeting our home. I wanted to inspire readers to include us in the climate change talk and to rally up individuals to fight for our planet. This is everyone's home and in the future, it will be our children's. It is a fact that robbing the future generations of seeing the cerulean sky and the azure ocean is a burden that no one wants.