Not the Same Planet

Foreword

I usually focus on conflicts and war in my protest poetry, because writing about the environment feels a bit cliché—so many poets already do it. But since today is World Environment Day, I decided to break my own rule, just this once.

It’s worth noting that conflicts and war are actually some of the main reasons our environment is in such a bad state.

Poem: Not the Same Planet [Contemporary Free Verse]

The sky no longer wears its clear blue crown—
it’s heavy with smoke, a shroud we draped ourselves.
Trees stand like tired giants, their breath shallow,
leaves trembling in fear of a future they cannot escape.

Rivers once sang songs of life,
now they murmur secrets of poison and loss,
carrying the weight of our careless hands,
dragging memories of ice that melted too soon.

Birds, those fleeting messengers,
no longer fill the morning with hope—
their wings beat against invisible walls,
searching for a home that slips farther away.

Storms rage with a fury that feels personal,
as if the Earth’s heart is breaking,
each thunderclap a cry for mercy,
each flood a tear we refused to catch.

I stand small beneath this vast, wounded sky,
wondering if my thoughts can reach the cracks,
if my hands can mend what’s been torn—
or if it’s already too late to listen.

Yet, even in this brokenness,
there is a whisper—a fragile promise—
that if we choose to see, to change,
the Earth might still cradle us gently again.

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Music video: © 2024 Belle Sisoski. Copyright registered in Malaysia.