Dear Humanity,
Where has our integrity gone?
We’ve traded it away for the insatiable greed of quantity,
Forgetting the essence of quality.
Look around—what have we done?
We’ve sacrificed our dignity,
All for a mentality that has become our harsh reality.
But why?
Why, oh why, humanity?
Who has bewitched you?
Why destroy our Mother Nature,
When in her destruction, we destroy ourselves?
We abuse her freely to satisfy our own greed.
Her unmatched beauty was once a gift,
A wonder for us to cherish and admire.
But now, behold the transformation:
The once vibrant trees now stand bare,
The air once pure now thick with despair.
The atmosphere has shifted.
The evidence is everywhere.
We are living in a world that feels lifeless,
A realm steeped in suffering and pain.
But what is the gain?
What do we gain from draining the sun and stopping the rain?
I long for the days when rain and sunshine harmonized,
When all was well,
But now, the greedy merely sigh,
Treating Mother Nature as a toy to be played with and discarded.
And here we are,
Bearing the consequences of our actions,
Living amidst the filth and decay.
But dear humanity,
Hear this call for change; it’s never too late to transform.
We are weary of tears, fears, and nightmares.
Let us rise and plant a tree,
For a future without trees is a future doomed to fail.
Now is the time—
The time to awaken from our slumber,
The time to show courage,
To pay the price for what Mother Nature has bestowed upon us.
This fight knows no age,
It knows no height,
No gender,
Nor wealth.
It’s about you and me,
Uniting together,
Joining hands to plant a tree and save our Mother Nature.
This is the love we need to forge ahead,
Not to retreat into darkness.
Imagine,
Imagine a world lush and green,
Where melodies of birds fill the clear skies between,
Rains nourishing our veins,
As the morning sun shines bright.
Oh, what a splendid view that would be!
So why?
Why can’t we allow our lungs to breathe again?
Let us gaze upon the stars,
Feel the light in the music,
Revel in the blossoms,
And marvel at the plumage of birds.
For a future without trees is indeed doomed.
Let us rise,
Let us act,
Let us restore the beauty,
And cherish the Earth we call home.
Kobusinge Ritah
Laudato Youth at Nyakasura School
