Don’t Tell Me
Havertown, PA
2019, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
We cannot save the ocean
And don’t tell me that
Climate change will kill life on earth
Unless we do something
Because
There is nothing I can do
So don’t tell me
The oceans’ corals are dying
Because of greenhouse gases
And don’t tell me that
Plastic is swirling around in our oceans
Because of human ignorance
Don’t tell me that
Polar bears are dying
Due to the ice in the Arctic melting
Don’t tell me that
Towns are being wiped out
From forest fires and flooding
Time after time
We are praying for families in danger
Due to climate change
Generation after generation will pay for the effects
Because the government doesn’t seem to care
By 2050, there will be more plastic in the oceans than the amount of fish
And
As the carbon dioxide levels keep increasing
As Miami begins to sink underwater due to sea level rise
As the Earth’s temperature increases every year
We can’t do anything to stop it
So don’t tell me
Right now is all we have
To change our ways
What more can we do
Advocate for change
Like Greta Thunberg
Go on strike
Protest
The earth needs us
(Now read from bottom to top.)
Reflection
Reflection
Growing up I had a beach house in Avalon, New Jersey, and had a love for the ocean but never knew of the impact it had on the earth’s climate and sea animals. Up until my senior year, I didn’t care much about the environment. I never knew that it was much of a concern. I took AP Environmental Science, which really opened my eyes to how much climate change was affecting our planet, the animals, the forests, and the lives of every person that lives on this earth. I started to do at least one thing every day to help, starting out with something as small as taking a shorter shower and throwing out trash I find while walking. It became a habit. Going to college next year, I hope to make an even bigger difference in helping. The earth is so important, and finding solutions to this problem is necessary, right now. This poem is about how people have an outlook as if they are one person and that they have no way of making a difference, but when you read it bottom to top you learn how everyone as a whole has a responsibility to help the earth or there will be nothing left.