*Authors Note*
This is a somewhat long piece. Thank you if you read the whole thing. I did the poems while Ryan Harris did the fictional piece and he also did the rest of the authors note.
The growing global demands and the corruption of world economy may very well lead to total failure of human structure. The most current event in my eyes is a peak to this crisis, the gulf oil spill. Corporations and companies, such as the oil industry must find a more efficient and eco friendly process to pull through with their objectives. Despite the growing demand and despite the current issues concerning the government. A law may be passed as to open the door to this much larger crisis.
The crisis of global warming, our Earth can’t possibly sustain the pressure we are placing on it right now. We haven’t measured the level of effects we have or when the world will end, but what we do know is that our previous decisions aren’t helping. For example one of the million causes towards global warming is indeed oil, companies must put more effort into the process, or the system by which they transport their materials. Not just throw darts at a map and come to a spontaneous conclusion.
Oil companies themselves effect the environment, but a nice temporary solution is synthetic oil. As it helps the environment by reducing the bad or used oil waste stream. Researchers must perform the proper research and sacrifice the proper materials to find a separate eco friendly element, by which will open a whole new door to the demands and needs we face every day. If we can’t keep up, the world can’t either.
Water sloshes along the banks,
While fish swiftly swim,
Through the crystal clear water.
Small pebbles roll along with the current,
Stones being tossed in,
Disrupting the gentle sway,
The sway of this stream.
The ripples travel throughout the water,
And the fish scatter greatly frightened.
Further along the stream,
Frogs lie on lily pads,
And rib bit bringing an enchanting theme,
The theme of a stream being untouched,
Of no buildings,
Of just peace.
But it ends as a black substance travels down the stream,
Fish unknowingly stay near this mysterious thing,
Breathing it in through their gills,
Then realizing it brings pain,
It brings sickness,
It brings death.
Standing above all the other trees,
Delicately moving with the wind,
Branches hanging down,
Leaves sprouting,
The old willow tree.
Perfect for small animals to start their home in,
To start their family in,
To start to live.
Many animals claim their place in the hollow tree,
Building nests,
Building burrows,
Building love.
Animals scurry down the trunk looking for food,
Looking for water,
Looking for things to sustain their life.
They come back to a stump,
Of what used to be their home,
The old willow tree is tipped over,
With strange animals on two legs picking branches up,
Picking up nests,
Picking up carcasses.
Green grass covering the ground,
As a soft cushion above the earth.
The trees elegantly standing,
Silently watching.
Small animals make their homes in trees,
Hatching eggs,
Storing food,
Living as God intended.
Loud noises disrupt the serenity,
Noises not heard before.
Large things heading straight for this forest,
Straight at this home.
Trees crack and fall,
Animals scatter at the noise,
Scatter from the orange machines tearing apart their homes.
Though some stay protecting their homes,
Not knowing the power of these things heading for them.
The machines crush everything in their path,
They bring pain,
They bring sickness,
They bring death.
They are Mankind.
As I soar through the sky, the ground below me appears a delicate, fragile, and graceful piece of our future and our past. Herds of horses valiantly trample through the wide open planes. I may say that yesterday, today, and tomorrow are everything I would expect. Nature and all it has to offer is infinite. I land in my favorite spot in the whole wide world, the willow tree. The smells of its flowers and the care it shares with me. Never asking for anything in return. When I needed it most, it would comfort me.
Winter came, as I migrated south for months with the other birds. Admiring the luscious ground below us. We land in the desert and playfully wonder through the cloudless, illuminated plains before us. As time passed so did our environment. I decided to say here for longer, as I felt commendable. At first changes were small, but they grew larger and faster. Immense blocks all around me everywhere I passed it wasn’t preventable. The only thing that kept me together was the willow tree. Every night everyday I would dream of the willow tree.
I met one bird just like me, as he was quite admirable indeed. We would think of our homes and the warmth by which they gave to us. He was my companion forever. Soon we agreed to return to the willow tree. Ecstatic and joyful I couldn’t wait to lay my eyes on the willow tree, but in the back of my head I was disturbed and tormented by the changes of the once fertile and delicate ground. All the immense cubes and darkened rivers growing larger and larger even as we watch! My companion and I are filled with joy as we see the willow tree once again. Oh the willow tree, valiant as its branches sway in the wind, as it reaches towards the sky, symbolizing hope and love.
We lay our nest in one of the highest branches of the willow tree. As we proceed in the circle of life we lay our eggs and insure all we have into the willow tree. Weeks I would lay on those eggs, until finally one day they hatched. The heartwarming love the hatchlings brought to me. I felt complete with my companion and hatchlings life couldn’t have been better. My many trips in hunt for food and supplies still brought me the disturbing images of the blackened rivers and smoked clouds.
As I fly back to the willow tree, I am petrified from the once valiant tree laying in front of me. Just cement and black rivers, for now there are no hatchlings to comfort me, or a willow tree, or even my companion. Only my tears may comfort me, in my dreams and during the day, for they never ask for anything in return, as they share with me.
