The Mother and the Sisters
Pleasant Hill, CA
2024, Junior, Poetry & Spoken Word
Two sisters alone and apart
Living to serve thee, Mother Earth
Floating along seas with no chart.
Little islands changing, shifting.
Buildings sprout, cars appear, all new.
The old ways are lost, love rifting.
Pollution harms, chemicals hurt,
No one sees but two little towns,
Sees the harm, sees the human dirt.
Temperatures rise, Mother’s fury
For what has happened to her land.
Islands blaze and sink to the sea.
So two stepped forth, one for each home,
Declaring their plan to sail away,
In search of a way to heal the dome.
Two sisters alone and apart
Seeking to restore the love lost,
Looking to clean at Earth’s restart.
Somehow they met on an island
Far out at sea, they start to see
Each other, the mother, her lands.
They don’t speak the same, but they see
The same pain from humanity,
Its destruction to what may be.
Together, they set off once more
To teach the consequences of
A land forgotten and ignored.
Two sisters alone and apart
Unite through care of Mother earth
And welcome back the olden ways
Of caring for the lands given.
The fires ceased, the water calmed,
The harm was fixed and forgiven.
Reflection
Reflection
This poem describes a story of two islands being harmed by climate change. One has several wildfires due an increase in temperatures causing drought and therefore, fires. The other island is sinking due to the tide rising. I was inspired to write about these two islands because they each represent the different ways that climate change harms the world. I also wrote about the two girls mentioned in the poem because it adds an extra element to the story about people from different lands coming together for a cause. I would like to spread the message that the earth needs to be respected, and that we need to help care for it. Through this process, I have learned that 2023 has been recorded to be the hottest year ever, only increasing the importance of climate awareness. We, as humans, have to jump into action by being aware of how our actions affect the earth.