A Global Tragedy

This round planet that we call home
When seen from outer space
Is like a glass marble with swirls of color,
It’s beautiful—our place.

Wispy white clouds drift slowly across
The oceans’ vast seas of blue.
The green, lush masses of vegetation
Are vividly stunning too.

We depend on the Earth for food, for fun,
For life, for everything.
But we take for granted the wonderful treasures
The Earth to us does bring.

For all its kindness, one would think
That we should do the same,
But we just take and never give back,
So we deserve the blame.

The earth is in jeopardy because of us,
The thermometer is rising.
The penguins, polar bears, walruses too,
Because of us they’re dying.

In the oceans so pure, so wide, and blue,
The wildlife is becoming ill
From the trash that we throw in there
And the oil that we spill.

We as Americans buy and sell,
And buy and buy some more.
We use Earth’s resources without a halt.
Please stop this! I implore.

We think the Earth’s our punching bag,
Or at least that’s how we treat it.
And the Earth cannot survive us
When we punch and whip and beat it.

If we don’t stop our hateful misuse,
Our wonderful gift will be gone.
The animals will die; we won’t have food
So our lives cannot go on.

We need to become aware
And acknowledge our Earthly plight.
Each and every one of us
Will need to stand up and fight.

It’s an awful global tragedy,
But yes, oh God it’s true.
Someone’s got to stop it;
It’ll have to be me and you.