A Snapshot of the Future
Hastings, New Zealand
2019, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
A penguin,
An avalanche of ice,
The brushing of ice against a penguin,
A million penguins,
Dead,
Drifting on the surface,
A snapshot,
Of a world,
Of the future.
A crab,
An island,
The washing of water over a crab’s feet,
An open expanse,
Nothing,
Water on all sides,
A snapshot,
Of a world,
Of the future.
A shark,
A reef,
Grazing of coral on a shark,
A dull ocean floor,
Bleached,
Filled with dancing rubbish,
A snapshot,
Of a world,
Of the future.
A girl,
A beach,
Slapping of hands against water,
An off smell,
Abandoned shore,
Murky water,
A snapshot,
Of a world,
Of the future.
Of our future.
Reflection
The environment has become an increasingly bigger part of my life, and I am now trying to do my best in the world. I feel I am not doing enough, but I try to do as much as I can, avoiding plastic and trying to break the consumer production cycle. I live in a region in New Zealand called Hawke’s Bay. We don’t live near any beaches, but I always enjoy visiting our family holiday home next to the sea. It always feels as if I am somehow connected to the openness and uncontrollable ocean breeze. I feel at home in the waves, one of the only places I find myself letting go of the future and the past, and just being in the moment, the here and now. I know that if we keep going the way we do, nothing will ever be the same, and we could lose so much of what the earth has provided us with. Somehow we need to find the courage to make some serious alterations to the way we live—and now. This crisis needs to be addressed in our society, so let’s get it over with and attack this ignorance with all we have and make a start to finally defending our planet.