Reflection

Reflection

This piece was inspired by my lifelong experience with climate change and the difficulties I have faced even trying to convince classmates and acquaintances that it exists in the first place. My inspiration for this piece started when I thought about my relationship with climate change and how it is largely connected to raising awareness, advocating, working to even get people to believe in this catastrophe. It’s a shocking and unfortunate truth but the fact is that, if no one believes its real, then how can we even start to solve it. This poem allowed me to work through those feelings, work through the idea that all the talk in the world isn’t making a difference. Oftentimes, it seems like there is no point in hoping anymore, no point in trying to make a difference because we’re not getting anywhere. Sometimes it feels like my voice, our voices, are so insignificant that nothing we say could matter. This poem was my way of overcoming those feelings and realizing that we can never give up hope. We need to continue to work hard. The message that I want to convey with this piece is that no matter what happens, we cannot give up on this earth that has given us so much. We cannot stop hoping, stop working, let the enormity of the issue overwhelm us. It all starts with one word, one action, one decision. We can and will make a difference. Climate change is not the end, if we work together, it can be our beginning.