Poets were challenged to write honoring our planet through creativity and action, harnessing an awareness, regarding environmental issues and reflecting positive change, using their voices to advocate by weaving verses and capturing the essence of our natural world, igniting their passions for environmental stewardship or simply expressing their thoughts and emotions despite this planet facing adversities and unfavorable conditions. AGGRIEVED EARTH Nonstop cold war on the crust melts down mantle into sooty dust Hunger and chaos shatters core death is knocking at every door. Barren lands with the murky seas
Homeless beasts and smokey trees
Dateless tale of riots and foes
plagued by avarice all my shows. © Rafiya Sayeed
Jammu and Kashmir, India TEMPORARY PLANET

For a million, trillion, unknown years, This place evolved alone; It's ice took shape - It's seas appeared - To crave this land of stone. Creatures evolved
And then disappeared
As if they were a sudden mist, When suddenly somewhere from all this mixture - A new mammal came to exist. They slowly rose from crawlings To stand upon two feet, Then looked around this forested land, And decided to deplete. A need for shelter A place to carve a home
A stone axe where the first trees fell, Their caves were soon abandoned, They soon became the hunters
The first signs that our planet fell. And so they drove on carelessly,
Through many endless wars, Through plagues that tried to wipe them out; Throughout global heating...they still endured. Despite the many famines, Every warning that was sent - It has now at last reached the stage...the end game - Where it is too late to repent. © John Anthony Fingleton Lambaré, Paraguay Father Time peers upon all life, turns away with shame
as Mother Earth chokes upon smog and pollution
blinded by destruction, corruption and greed deafened by the cacophony of noise, Tongues twisted and deceit maimed by callousness, laziness, indifference Numb by rippling effects of negative repetition o' patterns, ignorance and carelessness tattered, drained and consumed father time debates whether to bring forth the end of days Look. See. Listen. Hear All that is around Unite and save our mother earth It's all we have to live upon. it's all we have to love upon. © Mena Sisto Canada THE EARTH IS BLEEDING The birds have taken flight from the neighborhoods So are the trees, and green groves, pushed to clumps and clusters Replaced by proud and egoistic structures, raging like burners The centipede of civilization is on the prowl, through the woods. The earth is decaying, its arteries are clogged with discarded refuse; Lungs infected, body separating from filth, and civilzational dust. No longer the pristine streams greet us with the same warmth and trust; The mountains denuded, and forests ravaged by human greed and abuse. The cuckoos rarely cu-coo with trilling voice across your hearth, The nightingales' no more sing, serenading their mates at night. The fresh air has lost out to gaseous fumes and fossils finite Locked and braided with micro plastic, the earth is gasping for breath. The earth is bleeding, unable to bear the mayhem and madness And eagerly waiting for healing touch and poultice of kindness. © Kalucharan Sahu India EARTH DESTRUCTION Tampering with nature's plans Who do you think you are Altering the world and its land Just for the sake of our cars Polluting the oceans and rivers With all our toxic waste Dumping without thinking Causing chaos in our haste Cutting down the forests Making animal species extinct What on earth are we doing It's time to stop and think It's time to save the planet To help mother earth bloom Time is of the essence Do something to help soon. © Donna McCabe UK MOTHER NATURE I miss gamboling around like a lamb on the meadow, feeling the grass sprinkled with dewdrops under my feet while welcoming a new day at dawn. I want to feel your warm motherly hug when winter dresses you in a white-as-snow dress and adorns you with glittering rime ice, getting you ready to welcome the Holy Child. I'm weaving a sweet-scented flower crown at summer for you to dance together with the Sânziene 1, to bring good luck. I, the humble poet, am writing these verses to show my gratitude to you for what you gave me and continue to give me from the bottom of your heart without asking for something in return like many souls blinded by riches and power do. © Gheorge Laura Romania NOTES: 1 Sânziene are gentle fairies from Romanian folklore that are celebrated every year on June 24th, in Romania. Source: Wikipedia Haiku save the mother earth enveloping atmosphere gen next legacy © Subhashchandra Adhav India