Plastic Waste
May 15, 2020
Note: Sharlene wrote this poem to submit to the 2020 Fighting Words Poetry Contest hosted by the Pulitzer Center. The poem is a response to the video Rainforest Defenders.
Plastic Waste
By Sharlene Almanzar
The problem of waste
Destroying the environment,
destroying my home.
Permanent scars left after burning the plastic,
Leaving the toxic grey smoke to roam…
See what I’ve been able to see, what my grandparents spoke of
See what mother nature made, I always loved.
Preserve what the green nature offers.
Grasp the beauty I once saw,
for future generations to come,
Fix this consequence of a flaw.
Everything is plastic
From a toy doll a child once cherished
To the packaging of food that keeps humans alive
Yet it is a threat affecting the future
Yet it is something that surrounds us
Backing us up into a corner
Suffocating the environment like a plastic bag
Finding the solution is not as easy as it sounds;
The jungle is not infinite, and one day it will end
Raise awareness and inform others,
most are deprived from environmental education.
Bring this problem back to light,
Leave your doubts of never fixing this in the shadows.
The problem of waste.