Dublin (Ireland)

Emily Keane

Our Changing Planet

Through a child's eyes, 
Nature is clear 
The sky is coloured blue 
Without a doubt or fear 

Next grass follows with the simple colour green
No complications or confusion can be seen

The ocean is tricky, mixed with swirls of blue and green
The child's brow begins to furrow
And frown lines can be seen

The birds and the butterflies
Are intricate and small
Unlike the willowing trees
That stand upright and tall

The child becomes impatient
As it has one last thing to do
Its mental box of crayons
Has become very hard to use

The child cannot put a finger on
The colour they are trying to describe
It is powerful and strong
As if the colour is alive

They come to realise
That there is no colour or hue
To describe our current world
And its now alarming view

The air is now hot and sticky
Storms becoming more severe
The child ignores these changes
And decides to persevere

Roll on ten years
The child has now grown up
He realises he should have opened his eyes
And just looked

People are in poverty
Homes are left in ruins
Everywhere is dirty and polluted
Full of unwanted fumes

Despite these alarming temperatures
Some people aren’t worried or concerned
Do they not realise that there’s only one earth
Or do they even want to learn?

A thick dense smog hangs in the air
Suffocating people below
This is our planet dying
It’s not just an act or a show

Is it too late to rewind
The damage that has been done?
Is it too late to become a child again,
The times when worry was replaced with fun

 

Emily Keane lives in a village called Moylough and attends secondary school in Montbellew, Galway. As well as her passion for writing short stories and poetry and playing the piano, Emily enjoys playing Gaelic football and camogie. A big fan of romantic and classical era music Emily’s favourite composers are Beethoven and Chopin.