A Brighter Future (Poem)

Our Planet Is Under Threat.
The Uninhabitable Earth
Is not The Future We Choose.

This Farmageddon,
With a Silent Spring
Where no birds sing,
Must be stopped.

No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference.
Change is already in the air.
Our houses, our hearts
And our lungs are now On Fire
And This Changes Everything.

We must vanquish the
Merchants of Doubt
Who sell lies and confusion
To further their own selfish interests,
For they secretly know that
We Are The Weather
As it becomes ever more extreme.

We must banish The Growth Delusion,
And expose the Necessary Illusions
Impeding true growth and understanding.

We must not Falter
But take The Leap,
And Out of The Wreckage
We must envision Another Now.

With Doughnut Economics
Turning our green dreams
Into a golden age
Of balanced progress
And climate justice.

Nature’s complex understory
Can inspire The Overstory,
Beautifully reminding us of
The Hidden Life of Trees,
Highlighting their contributions
To ecosystems,
And to every breath we breathe.

For deeply we must breathe,
Knowing that Mindfulness
Can calm our anxious souls,
Helping us to understand
The Art Of Living
With true peace and freedom.

A Message From The Future
Can bring hope and solidarity,
Charting the path to redemption.

The Hill We Climb can become
A planetary pilgrimage,
Binding us together
With a common goal.

And as we rise,
We shall see a green, sunlit
Utopia for Realists on the horizon.

We can be the light
In this seemingly endless darkness,
Creating a brighter future,
For all Life on Earth.

By Ciara Muldoon
Co-founder of SearchScene.com, the charitable search engine that protects the planet and your privacy while you search the web.

Written 31 January 2021 

This poem was inspired by the following books, videos, and organisations:

– SearchScene’s promotional video, “Our Planet Is Under Threat” (2021).

– David Wallace-Wells book, “The Uninhabitable Earth” (2019)

– Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac’s book, “The Future We Choose” (2020).

– Philip Lymbery and Isabel Oakeshott’s book: “Farmageddon” (2014).

– Rachel Carson’s book, “Silent Spring” (1962).

– Greta Thunberg’s book, “No One Is Too Small To Make A Difference” (2019).

– Naomi Klein’s book, “On Fire” (2019).

– Naomi Klein’s book, “This Changes Everything” (2014).

– Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway’s book, “Merchants of Doubt” (2014).

– Jonathan Safran Foer’s book, “We Are The Weather” (2019)

– David Pilling’s book, “The Growth Delusion” (2018)

– Noam Chomsky’s book, “Necessary Illusions” (1989)

– Bill McKibben’s book, “Falter” (2019)

– Organisation founded by Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis, “The Leap” (2015).

– George Monbiot’s book “Out of The Wreckage” (2017).

– Yanis Varoufakis’ book, “Another Now” (2020).

– Kate Raworth’s book, “Doughnut Economics” (2017)

– Richard Powers’ book, “The Overstory” (2019).

– Peter Wohlleben’s book, “The Hidden Life of Trees” (2016).

– Mark Williams’ and Danny Penman’s book, “Mindfulness” (2011)

– Thich Nhat Hanh’s book, “The Art Of Living” (2017)

– 7 minute film, “A Message From The Future With Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez” (2019).

– Amanda Gorman’s inaugural poem, The Hill We Climb (2021)

– Rutger Bregman’s book, “Utopia for Realists” (2016).

– David Attenborough’s BBC nature documentary, “Life on Earth” (1979).