I Sentence You (an Apocalyptic Dystopian Poem)

Ecosystems, the fabric of life on which we all depend, are declining rapidly because of human actions. But, it is not too late to save them.

Human pressure on nature, the environment, and subsequently climate, has sky-rocketed since the 1970s. We have been using more and more natural resources (including fossil fuels) and this has come at a cost.

If we lose large portions of the natural world, human quality of life will be severely reduced and the lives of future generations will be threatened unless effective action is taken.

Over the last 50 years, nature's capacity to support us has plummeted. Air and water quality are reducing, soils are depleting, crops are short of pollinators, and coasts are less protected from storms.

We can change our ways, begin to use green energy, such as solar, wind, and hydro-electric power, reduce deforestation, and offer more protection to endangered species. It is not beyond us to turn things around and begin to restore the health of the planet and its ecosystems.

Can I distance myself

From the wrongs

Of decades past?

Accused,

Fairly or unfairly,

Do you even care?

It doesn't matter

To anyone but the victims,

The psychologically damaged

And physically abused.

Take the stand,

The court is in session.

Guilty or not guilty,

How do you plead?

Not guilty!

I wasn't yet born.

That's no defence

Against the crimes of the father,

Or the mother for that matter,

Or the father's father,

Or the mother's mother.

What's done is done,

What's broken can't be fixed.

A prostitute cannot become a virgin again,

A sunken unsalvageable wreck

Cannot be refloated.

All the extinct species

Cannot live again.

If this planet dies for your sins,

It can't be resurrected.

Again, I ask,

How do you plead,

On behalf of mankind?

Guilty or innocent?

≈Shamed silence ≈

The jury has reached a verdict.

You have been charged

With crimes against the world.

I sentence you ..

To life..

On a dead planet.