We march for life
For our survival on an agile globe
For a receding reality, one fairer and greener
Something better than the world’s wealthy huddled together
In the dust and futility of their narrow horizons
All that is good in jeopardy that is the emergency
I pause for a drink, to quench my thirst
In that moment truly thankful for clean water to drink
Every sip is a portal to a well of worry where water is
scarce
Even a glimmer of brevity sharply focuses the mind
Surge of panic amongst the colour throng
Breath shallow quick stalling
I fight for fresh air, to fill my lungs in a stubborn city
I think of womb you
A fragile whisper
This beautiful promise that already sends tremors across mummy’s
tummy, your whole world
Alive yet unborn you wait to inherit the earth
Such an inheritance was never to exploit but cherish
A joining in with this exponential dance of teeming forms
An exchange of love
Are you dreaming of the future as you wait in there?
If nothing changes then by my age
Like so many already alive
You could be blighted by not enough food and the smallness
of violence
A future at the mercy of water and fire
Put at risk by the very ground you stand on and the air you
breathe
All the elements skewed against you by past generations
Things will shake you and rush you
try to tumble you and I tremble at the thought
The innocence of my youth was a luxury
Now we must strain for a world where all the trees of the
wood rejoice
Where kindness can survive escalation and thrive
I want a world where we can hold each other’s gaze
I am heavy now with the weight of dread, the status quo
A fog pervades and the tide moves in
I held a sign
Oh I held a sign and stood in the way
The work won’t stop and its calling me
To imagine in higher definition and in new dimensions
Shoulder my fear and act out of love