Ice Frozen, Hearts Melted
They say that ice is treacherous, That it’s cold as death, Alive without breath, Waiting to take those Who disrespect it or dare to suspect it Of anything other than what it is; Heartless
There are stories of those who have fallen To and through Sheets of ice Of blindingly white Merciless and insistent Their mere existence devoid Of any warmth
They say ice melt Is beneficial For who would want Such an unforgiving landscape To remainWhen in its place Could come obtainable riches
Glaciers? They say Who needs them anyway When they have taken so much And give so little
But what they do not tell you is the shimmering blue Revealed when ice turns over In its restless sleep Breaking the deep Deafening silence
They do not mention That each snowflake is unique An intricate pattern That will never return
Fleeting, alive for an instant individual as a human fingerprint And as precious as it’s owner
They forget As ice does not That memories lie deep In frozen sleep Hidden between layers of ice and snow Stories of ages long ago Irreplaceable Yet easily Erasable
Today, everyday, Human kind Betrays and ravages the earth That nurtured us Blind to it’s pain Intertwined and trapped in a desperate dance That lured us Towards destruction:
Because of us The majestic ice Of planet earth Is melting Like a ball set rolling There is no controlling Its speed as it melts Erasing history Grandeur and mystery Spires and turrets Reduced to angry torrents Of rushing tears
One day A Towering wave Will be all that remains Of majestic cathedrals Arching bridges Towers and needles That live only in pictures Of a forgotten age
Because what they don’t tell you Is power of ice To balance the planet And protect us From raging fires From harmful rays That would damage Our fragile existence
Ice is a Firefighter, Even as it fears heat Resilient Even as it melts And yet We are hanging it Over a lighted fire A captive Unable to escape Bound by conditions
It cannot protect us if we do not provide the same protection in return
California is burning East Africa is yearning For any drop of water And the ice sheets are melting, Unable to prevent Anything As in danger as we are
I hope That the fires that burn Because we didn’t turn And face what we’ve done Will be sufficiently hot to melt the cold hearts Enough to feel the heat under the arctic’s feet
I hope that someone Watching from the crowd Will wake up Stand up throw water on the fire
After which The crowd will rise as one Untie the bonds Releasing ice Sparing the poles From further pain
I hope for a day Where I can say That we all came together as one To save the ice
From destruction
From us
For us
The Fight of Our Lives
by Collette Treewater (Class of 2024)
Humans, a seeming to be biotic figure that has done nothing but bad
They say don’t be greedy but that seems to be a hypocritical statement
Humans have ruined what we are given and give nothing back
The waterfalls drying up not releasing the water of hope that is recycled through like magic
The ground don’t change but it does when underneath there is everything in the world that could hurt us
We sweep it under the carpet like it’s a dust bunny on a busy day
But we are talking about our earth here
I say listen to the creature’s yelping, crying, dying for help
Needing what we can no longer give because we are too far gone
I stand for what I stand on and will fight for what I die on
We can’t give our world a ventilator or life support but currently this is what we need to do
Our world is on its deathbed we must treat it like we do to all these other living things including ourselves
Respecting your mother wishing we could have done more, but we can do more
Somehow a matter of environmental emergency has become a political debate for some rich people to bicker about like two babies fighting over the last cookie in the cookie jar but that cookie represents our entire political system of power
We as people need to stop fighting with each other because we are wasting energy
Becoming a united whole that will go into battle with our heads held high
Coming out with our feet drowning in the sea water we have melted, neglected, infected, and no longer respected
It will engulf us sooner or later but we will sink into it jaws first still bickering about whose shoes look more stylish, whose tie is more tight, and who got the most likes on the picture they posted that morning but we will be oblivious as we always have been and always will be
This is no laughing matter so stop laughing and start doing stop talking and start fighting
And stop crying because our earth is dying
The Rain, The Snow, The Trees, The Boulders, The Fire
by Olivia Brewster (Class of 2024)
I can’t. I can’t take it anymore. I can’t.
I can’t take the pressure of the world.
Every time we take a step up the mountain, a boulder tries to push up back down.
Or maybe a tree falls in front of us.
Maybe an avalanche buries us in snow.
Maybe a fire scorches our trail, and obliterates our footsteps.
Maybe rain blinds us, and we can’t see the top anymore.
But we are still fighting, we are still trekking through the snow.
We jumped over the tree, we pushed the boulder to the side.
The rain washed away the fire.
We kept on walking through the rain.
I can’t take it anymore.
The rain, the snow, the trees, the boulders, the fire.
I can’t.
The summit is our goal. That’s it, the summit. There are still obstacles on the other side, but the summit is our goal.
This mountain we’re climbing, its name is Climate Change.
It’s in the mountain range called Mother Earth. Mother Earth has lots of mountains, but Climate Change is the biggest and the worst, there is also the best view from the top.
This trail we’re on, is one of our own creation. It twists and turns, sometimes it’s steep, sometimes it’s a gentle slope, sometimes it drops off onto a cliff.
We keep climbing and I can’t take it anymore.
Everyday we seem closer to the top, and every night the top seems to disappear in the distance.
The rain, the snow, the trees, the boulders, the fire.
I carry my team, they carry me. We bear the weight of the world on our backs.
We carry everything.
Our past, our present, our future.
We can’t put anything down, we can’t lighten the load.
I can’t take it anymore.
I can’t take the burden of the world
I can’t keep hiking up this mountain
I can’t handle the rain, the snow, the trees, the boulders, the fire.
But I can. I can. I can. I can. We can.
Every time we take a step up this mountain, a boulder tries to push us back down, but we dodge it, and laugh as it tumbles down the mountain side.
Or maybe a tree falls in front of us, and we have a place to sit down and take a break.
Maybe there is a little snow to cool us down.
Maybe a fire warms us and gives us light, even when the sun dips beneath the horizon, there is still a soft glow, that illuminates Mother Earth
Maybe it rains, and washes away all of our fears, and sorrows. Maybe it rains, and we splash in puddles and swim in lakes.
We keep on walking in the rain.
I can, we can.
The rain, the snow, the trees, the boulders, the fire.
We can.
This mountain we’re climbing, its name is Climate Change. People have ventured up here before, left us some signs, maybe a campsite, possibly recommended a shady spot to take a break. But nobody has gone to the summit.
That’s our goal, the summit.
Climate Change is in a mountain range called Mother Earth. Mother Earth has mountains, and volcanoes, and lakes, and rivers. Mother Earth has dangerous cliffs, and beautiful hillsides.
This trail we’re on, it’s one of our own creation. There are no rules, no boundaries, just one goal. The summit.
Some days the trail is pretty generic. Simple problems, simple solutions. Not much water, find a spring. Too hot, find some shade.
Other days, the trail is a monster, just waiting to find new ways to torture us. But that’s okay, because sometimes we need to hurt a little.
We just need to get to the summit of Climate Change, in this mountain range called Mother Earth.
I can. We can.
The rain, the snow, the trees, the boulders, the fire.
We can.
I know we can do it.
We can fix it, we can solve it, we can find the answer and save the world.
From our own mistakes.
I believe in us.
I believe in us.
We can stop the carbon emissions, we can stop the plastic production, we can stop deforestation.
We can produce less litter, we can eat less meat, we can cut down less trees, we can
We can, we can, we can.
We have all the dominoes. They are ready to be lined up.
Some of them already are.
They are the ones who don’t use as much plastic, they are the ones who turn off their lights when they leave the room, they are the ones who walk to work. They are the ones who are already lined up.
But we need more dominoes. There are gaping holes in this line, and if one doesn’t reach the next, then the rest can’t fall down.
We have all the dominoes. They are ready to be lined up.
We have the space for the dominoes, we have all the dominoes.
I know we can do it.
Just get in line.
Please?
