New Earth
By OneKind supporter Oliver Robertson
I remember when I was your age
We used to go on school trips
Into hearts of forests
Our lungs slipped
On oxygen straight from the tap
Where the boundaries between mother nature
And civilisation
Were as clear as lines on an ordinance survey
The space we now inhabit
Is cold dark and empty
like being trapped in a bin liner
Gasping for air consumed by the black
frantically clawing at the dark
to catch any rock
For a patch of human survival
eternal guilt stains our shadow
My world used to illuminate
Each street light connects to each housing scheme to each district in a city
Those first missionaries looked back
And joined the dots
Mapped new consolations
A sign of shared connections
But aww eh big lights are noo aff
there is no one home
Get your gas mask on
Its time for school
The lesson of the day is nature
Documentary series beams into class rooms
Orbiting our old turquoise sphere
Which could have been saved
If we didn’t dog class
N Mammy always gets the last laugh
Our report card states that we have misbehaved
and have went down a path
not easily swayed
When I was your age
Old men on screens
convinced me the world was intact
When infact
He displayed
Only fragments of a valuable artifact
We Jetset to faraway outbacks
left disappointed
With what remained
As this was not a true reflection of the world presented
when I was your age
Me and granny pressed our palms together
down the main street
clammy beads of sweat dripped down
A reminder that gravity
Keeps our feet on the ground
And Every trip to the supermarket
Was a great expedition
We got lost in the fruit and veg section
Navigating a summer of fields
Now Opening a tin, passing it down
To the next generation
It cannot compare
To the twinkling of tastebuds
Munching a fresh, juicy pear
Tusamis of market forces
Generates wants and impulses
Occupied minds
From Erosion of natural resources
I surf on each wave
In the left over haze
Of Edward Bernase
Reaching peaks
With effortless ease
As if climbing ben Nevis was a flight of stairs
Standing on our tip toes
For a sliver of air
From
A thin blue boundary
That
divides
life and disaster
Disaster wasn’t adverted
And the blue lifeline
Became a coffin
Trapping, leaving the gases to take effect
Growing up to be just like our chainsmoking sister
Despite all the warning labels
We were swallowed up
Like a venus fly trap and spat out
The last remaining human molecules
Spreading our cancerous habits
Across the universe
Youre late for school
Missed the bus
Somethings never change
And two came at once
Have a nice day
And tell your teacher
What I say
Economic systems will never replace
A decayed earth
So Lets not ruin our Lunar base
With the pasts mistakes
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