Galaxies Apart
Mumbai, India
2024, Senior, Poetry & Spoken Word
First breath, a cosmic cradle
Raised in Singapore’s orbit,
A symphony of stars
Declared pristine.
They taught us the 3Rs;
I spoke of hope,
But I never saw
Beyond our clear skies, the world in turmoil:
Another galaxy, out of balance.
I drank from the tap, I breathed deep
The city taught me
How to keep me,
The plants, the animals, the environment,
the constellation
Alive.
2020, a seismic shift
I flew back to birthland
Mumbai.
A galaxy apart,
I questioned the stars.
Under a blazing sun, dust choked the air,
Heatwaves intensify the sky’s relentless glare.
Barely any trees, just dust-covered leaves
Plastic trash orbits streets. Too much waste-
that’s why the heat.
Dead rats, like fallen stars in alleyways,
Dead birds, silent comets, disappear in decay.
What is alive?
Climate change: deadly asteroid.
Monsoon rains, out of control.
Floodwaters, like dark matter, seeped into our home.
Heatwaves scorch, air thick with dust.
Cyclones frequent, fueled by warming oceans’ thrust.
Warnings flashing our screens,
A city, a galaxy, in crisis- struggling to breathe.
Weather patterns shifting,
What can we believe?
Only 13, my body ill,
Rashes, asthma, and eczema, a celestial shift
Hair fall like meteor showers,
my cousin’s breath a nightly battle.
Aunt collapses from heatstroke.
Strong and sturdy rockets fail.
Wastewater, out of control
My brother has dengue
Diwali spent in the hospital
We’re stuck in a black hole.
Where is hope?
Yet in the darkness
I refused to let despair define.
At 16, ignited like a supernova bright,
I saw the flaws in farming’s plight.
Teamed up with ‘Sistema Bio,’ a nebula of hope,
Sold cookies, toys, and crowdfunded,
Enough stardust, enough support
Installed biogas plants in rural regions
Transforming lives with clean energy’s bright beacon
Not a full orbital shift
For Mumbai’s atmosphere,
I had to start somewhere,
Just a meteor.
One day I’ll launch
shooting stars
One day I’ll illuminate
this galaxy.
Everyday, space shuttles in construction.
No straws with drinks, glass over plastic’s blight,
Two bins at home, waste segregation in sight.
Taking only what I eat, to curb food waste’s flight,
Carrying my own bags, my own water bottle held tight.
With every step, a ripple in this vast expanse,
My actions align.
I spread the word, encourage friends and kin,
In school and society, change begins within.
Together, we ignite bright ideas,
Until the city whispers back in resolve clear-
“We can change, we can heal,” the milky way will hear.
Reflection
When I used to live in Singapore, I thought the world was perfect. Everything in Singapore is well-planned and runs in a very systematic manner. I was naive to think a tiny city like Singapore could represent the entire world. During the Covid-19 pandemic, my family had to shift to Mumbai, in India. Suddenly I am out of the small, perfect city of Singapore and I feel like I have been exposed to the much larger, real world- and it feels like a galaxy apart. This is mainly because of the contrasting climates and environment. This inspired the poem “Galaxies Apart.” In the poem I intend to also show readers that shifting to Mumbai felt like a mind-opening experience, because it is so much larger and imperfect. I cannot believe I used to think the world was running in such an orderly manner, like in Singapore, and I hoped to convey my shock and disappointment in the poem. My main message to viewers is that no matter how horrible the climate may have been to them, their families and their community, no matter how many times they have fallen down, they should remain resilient and get up stronger each time. I believe collective action can mitigate climate change, and everyone can start somewhere.