Last week’s ‘Be Inspired’ section in Gateway was on Amanda Gorman, the youngest US Poet Laureate. Matilda, in Upper II, was inspired by some of her poetry and has composed her own.

One Tree

One tree,

Alone,

In a world made of stone

And concrete.

That’s

What we’re leading to,

Complacent,

Treading the path

That we made

Without complaint.

Do we know?

Do we know

What it will cause

If we go further through that door?

Are our hearts ready

For the self-made,

Man-made,

Future?

And all the countries

Supposing they’re united

With each other,

And with the Earth,

But since the birth

Of the industrialised,

Grey,

Road that we took,

We’ve never looked

Back.

 

We’re like

The worst kind of animals,

Destroying the Earth

And each other

And for all the machines,

If you look in between

The lines,

You’ll find

The foundations of our society

Built on the resources

That we were never meant

To use.

 

When will we stop?

Will we keep going

‘Till the end

Until there’s nothing left?

Are we ready

To not stop,

To never stop,

Until:

 

One tree,

Falling,

The men stop pulling

And pushing,

And sit down.

And all that’s left

Of the last tree

Is one leaf

Floating over

The world of grey.