An Ode To Wangari Maathai
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
2023, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Climate Hero: Wangari Maathai, The Green Belt Movement
A name
None would really recognize
Empathize
None would syncopate with
Or illustrate inky greenhouse gasses upon
The illustrious passes of pages
Of a hardback thumbtack history textbook
A name merely mistook for being
One among the waters among the wilting
Waves of an organic ocean
When Maathai
Was the motion
The notion that a name could mean
Life
Stifle the score of a song that
Only plays a great game of
Unwanted names in majors
And let the ragers of rain
Pour
Stifle the world that does not the allow
The core
The girl and the woman to collide
That does not let
Xx chromosomes inside
Let the wind whisper
And let the grass
Glide
Stifle the land that demands cash
For crops let it rot
Let the land be so barren it scares the sand
And startles it to skitter
Let the land be so broken it takes the whisper out of voice
Out of unspoken
So she can craft the new world
Awoken
Now as she
Lies in a grave somewhere where
Desert dares to save
Somewhere where
A tree is pleading down on one knee
He’s breathing again
He’s teething again
At a decaying soul
That’s sole purpose
Was to be
Under Mother nature’s
Name
Reflection
Reflection
As an avid student always eager to learn more about climate change, I had never come across Wangari Maathai in my studies. During this project, I came across her and was immediately entranced by her incredulous amount of accomplishments and works. Not only did she take action in the category of climate change, but she also worked to help poverty and fight adversity in the workplace for women. Writing an ode to her and her many accomplishments felt not only like I was speaking about her, but the nature world itself. What shocked me the most is that this woman was so influential, but I had never heard her name in conversation or in my studies. I believe that she is worth delving into more research about and appreciating her craft.