Yesterday was Earth Day, a time to celebrate the beauty of our planet and the importance of protecting it. I have compiled my best conservation-themed poems from across the years, including one written specifically for Earth Day 2022.
I believe poetry can be educational and empowering as well as beautiful. A lot of my writing is about nature, because I am surrounded by the awe-inspiring natural wonders of New Zealand. Many of my nature poems are purely appreciative, or use nature as a metaphor for the human condition. However, some have a conservation-specific flavour. I decided to compile these from my Instagram account, to present to you a snapshot of reasons to treasure and protect our planet.
Read the captions to learn more about the story behind each poem.
Earthlings Earthlings, searching sky after sky, Wondering how, and wondering why, Have you rotated your billion-paid scopes Back on yourselves, the launchpad of your hopes? The sky’s full of stones, but the brightest of those Is under your heels, multi-hued and foliose, Ignored or ill-used, it yearns for the touch Of hands treating it as a home, not a crutch. Heaven is not what we find, but we make, Our telescopes might be our shiniest mistake. Loredana P. Kint, 22 April 2022
Love Poem To Nature Nature, you were here before me, How could I not then adore thee? Backdrop to my triumphs, trials, Playing birdsong for my smiles, Rain considerately for my tears, Welcoming in all your spheres, Teaching me that all should be Green as thee, serene, and free. Loredana P. Kint, 2022
Christmas Wish This Christmas, I want a bauble The shape of the world. I will hang it by the angel, The trumpeter of truces, with carefree curls. It will be of the purest glass, Requiring lots of care, If I am gentle enough, at last Someone might grant my prayer: I wish for a world where everyone Is treated like glass, with gentle hands, And our bauble itself to be treated as one, And placed with pride on the highest of stands. Loredana P. Kint, 2021
Snow Leopard's Reign In the mountain, all alone, Aloft upon a glacial throne, There, the noble leopard roams, Monarch of his brumal home. He reigns upon a land of snow, From which are banished every foe, And scorns the selfish lands below, Who never felt a blizzard blow. Waiting for a distant Spring And the security it brings, There rules the solitary king, Who, though alone, has freedom's wings, On which, he through the canyon soars And strides with agile, regal paws, Upon a land that never thaws, Upon a land of icy laws. And all but one these laws abide, But one, who prowls the mountainside, To shoot a leopard for its hide, A heartless act of regicide. Loredana P. Kint, 2015 Previously published in Reflections (2018) by Loredana Podolska-Kint, pg. 49
Hidden Forests Yonder, where no clouds could ever sweep, Lie the jewelled forests of the deep Where but wispy ghosts of sunlight seep, Tickling the stingray in his sleep. In a sky of liquid quartz immersed, Blurred on canvas, overlooked by verse, Flourishes a silent universe Matching ours with denizens diverse; Knotted boughs, which for the light compete, Frame the reef with jagged, lacy pleats, Wrinkled corals chafe the rims they meet, Like a living jigsaw, incomplete, Sparse bouquets of gauze anemones Swarm with fish, like copper-plated bees, Petals billow in the fluid breeze Carrying transparent melodies. Those who glimpse this Eden often weep, They are few, so herein lies the curse; Our dry world can never be complete Till we see the forest for the seas. Loredana P. Kint, 2019 Previously published in the UoA Write Club Anthology, October 2019
The Kea Cries The widest smiles are often masks To hide great pain or greater fears, And though a person may laugh last, It does not mean they cry no tears. Our famous kea is the same; A bird whom we have called a clown, Whose curiosity and games Perhaps disguise a silent frown. For who would smile, if they could see Their flock and forest thus destroyed, And consciously, or carelessly, A haven turned into a void? With every native creature killed, Aotearoa’s blood is spilled, It is for them the kea cries, If we see past its jester’s guise. Loredana P. Kint, 2019
Want to read more earth day poetry? Check out my Instagram account for more nature poems, or get a copy of my first anthology, Reflections.
Some poems have been shared by and/or inspired by prompts on the Poetry_Earthlings Instagram account, visit the account to read a range of nature-themed poetry by poets from around the world!
Happy Earth Day!