Blood Minerals
Irvine, CA
2024, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
The earth’s body
discovered children’s bodies between her ligaments.
Incident evolved to infection,
she asks why we made artificial arteries to disrupt her rhythms,
why her organs of ore made obituaries,
why some make the article and but not all—
1 in 10 children are victims of labor.
Cuffed by the copper belt of central Africa,
these supply chains detain children
who can’t bite their nails in class
when the lithium under them is lethal,
when 1 in 3 will never go to school.
Learn the inhale could incise
upon entry into the labyrinth from
larynx to lung.
Suffocate under a system
in which electric vehicles
won’t exhale nitrogen
but exhaust children.
Carbon emissions
reduced by consumers
who considered the consequences of
rising temperatures and tides
so purchased solar panels and Teslas
and what did I know of the metals and minerals that made them,
of the children that scraped them from earth’s intestines.
The earth doesn’t want children’s blood in her veins,
pulsing through wires
in the great circuit of mankind where
clean energy might not be made by clean hands.
Companies compete for the cheapest labor
to profit off the climate crisis.
Accused and acquitted, who’s accountable?
Who’s guilty but the kids
who would do the right thing
if America wasn’t always a riddle,
A dilemma of sustainability and split skulls,
of smokestacks or spent souls.
Save the earth at the cost of Congo, Madagascar, Jharkhand.
What if there’s always another secret?
What if the solution wastes another century?
Weonly have one earth, but isn’t every child worth the whole world too?
Reflection
Reflection
It was through a group poem for a Gen Z Mental Health Summit at UCLA that I first learned about the crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo. I was shocked that such horrific labor practices have persisted and that the cobalt was mined for objects that I use every day, including my phone and computer. Upon further research, I found that this issue was directly involved with climate change. Increased reliance on electric and renewable energy helps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but cobalt is also necessary for lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles and photovoltaic batteries in solar panels. Many raw materials are obtained through intensive labor practices that infringe upon human rights. As a consumer in the United States who has solar panels and owns an electric vehicle, it is my responsibility to understand the effects of my purchases, both the environmental and social. As an artist, I am also committed to advocating for those left unheard and using my voice to spread awareness. The poem then emerged. I know that it is ultimately through legislation and policy that the conditions in Congo can be improved, but I hope that my words allow others to consider the climate situation as a whole and that the issue won’t perpetuate. It does not have to be a question of human rights or a sustainable earth, but the former must be protected in pursuit of the latter and I believe there is a solution that can address both effectively. Learning about the children in Congo allowed me to deeply appreciate the opportunities I have with education and the arts and I hope that through my career, I can create space for them to pursue their passions too.