Reflection

My poem was inspired by a combination of many poems I’ve read throughout my life, from Edgar Allen Poe to Emily Dickinson and Rudyard Kipling. They were a large portion of my introduction to writing and the arts as a whole, although I’ve always loved reading and music seemingly since I opened my eyes for the first time. As I wrote "Choking," I thought about all of the problems we’re leaving and expecting others to fix, our lack of accountability and general apathy. We need to stand up for our world and the people, plants, and animals in it. The climate crisis is so much worse than I’d imagined, with plastic clogging rivers and wildfires raging more often than ever. My chosen Climate Hero, Tori Tsui, is inspiring hope, bringing a call to action, and talking about the importance of mental health at the same time. She’s fighting to make people take notice of how wasteful and uncaring we can be. I believe that if she is able to spread her message far enough and loud enough, we can fix this.