Saving Places - I Thought I Saw

First of all I have to say I’m amazed that this poem is written by a ten year old. I would not even be able to write something like that at my age of 15. It seems that she really knows what is going on around the world, and the consequences of it.

The message behind this poem is quite obvious and easy to understand. She’s talking about how humans have taken over the earth, and that we are slowly tearing it apart. The poem is full of beautiful descriptions of the nature, which helps it getting its message across and also makes the poem kind of touching. Her descriptions of the animals shows that not only does humans make it worse for themselves, our actions also have a huge influence on all the other living species on earth. The poem is written like the writer lives in the future, and all of those things that she is writing about have already happened. There are no longer fertile plains, the elephants and the buffalo have died out, only because of us, because of our industry, and pollutant factories.

There is an apparent structure in this poem too. Every sentence starts with “I thought I saw…” The verses are all kind of building up to the last verse. Up until then I feel like she is making her message come through in a gentle way, by describing the nature so you can really imagine it in front of you. In the last verse she is pushing her message on to you, if you did not get it already, by saying “All these things – They could not be, they all died out because of me”. It makes the end of the poem really strong, and it is not possible to just forget it at once.





Source: Searching 10
You can find the picture Here. 

A color

Before Christmas we watched a movie called "Mississippi Burning", which we later on used as our inspiration to write a text about the racial segregation in America in the 1960's. We only had one hour to write the text and I choose to write a short story about how it was like for a teenager living in the south of America at that time, so here is my text;

Two teenagers are walking towards each other. One of them wears clothes that reflect what is seen on the catwalk at that time. He knows what’s up. When he walks it is like he is claiming space. “I am better than everyone else, therefore I shall walk here”. With a satisfied look on his face his eyes are aiming for something that lies far ahead of him.

The other teenager looks like his opposite. Unlike the first one he is wearing baggy, worn-out clothes with a few spots on. His eyes are searching everywhere, but without turning his head. He doesn’t make more movements than necessary, doesn’t want to drag attention. In some way he is almost like a rabbit, he is always aware of what is going on around him.

As they are getting closer to each other the first one grows taller and taller, while the one with the baggy clothes are shrinking with each step. The tall one knows he has power. He knows he can whatever he wants to, to the other one. He could force him down into the ground, even hurt him, and still it wouldn’t give any consequences. It would be like their secret, and every time they see each other again, even only for a second, they would remember.

They are walking past each other now. The tallest one makes sure that their shoulders meet hard. The smallest one pretends he did not notice, and both of them keep on walking, but this time away from each other.

A color is the reason. A color is the reason only one of them is allowed to hurt. To hit. To throw insults. Just because one of them is white and one of them is black.

It's our responsibility

The philosopher Arne Næss is the founder of the deep ecology. His philosophy said that we’re all a part of the nature and every living being has just as much right as us to live. It doesn't matter you are a tree, zebra or a butterfly. Many humans think they have the right to dominate the world, but the deep ecology says that we have no reason to think that way. We’re all dependent on the nature and other animals, and without the nature we wouldn’t be able to live. Still, we’re not very careful with how we treat the nature. Therefore, it is important to remember that the nature is just as important as we are for the world to function.

The deep ecology says that we can take what we need from the nature to live, but not more. You should go hunting only when you actually need food, not because you find it fun. If everybody sticks to this and only takes what they need, it’s more than enough resources for everyone on the earth. Sadly, the real world is not very much like this theory at all yet. Someone will always take more because they have the money to or if they want to. If the whole population was going to live like people in the rich countries do we would need three whole earths to maintain our so called “needs. “

Studies have showed that trees grow a lot slower than before, because of acid rain. It’s not surprising that the source of acid rain is us. Acid rain is made when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen is released into the air. This happens when we burn coal, fossil fuels and also our cars is a main source. We can reduce the amount of acid rain by minimizing our pollution and using renewable energy resources, but for it to make a difference a large amount of people have to cut down their pollution, which can be hard to control.

Especially when it comes to animals, a lot of people do not have the consequences of hunting in mind. Over and over again have different kinds of animals became endangered, before we have to make them illegal to hunt. How many times does this have to happen, untill we start thinking before acting? Also, I hate how hunting is a form of getting attention, and it almost feels like some sort of competition. It is about getting the biggest moose, or the most beautiful bird. Hunters are bragging about killing a living being. Imagine you are looking straight into moose's eyes. The next second it is lying on the ground, motionless, because you shot it. And the reason you shot it was because you thought it is fun. To kill. And then you go telling your best friends about it, how brave you are to shoot that moose, how it was almost on the edge of attacking you. I simply do not get how people are able to do that. The worst part is not really that we kill other living beings, but that we're actually using it as entertainment.   

Just as the deep ecology says we should start to appreciate the things we can do without spending lots of money, and producing unecessery pollution. Instead of going to the mall and buy products tested on animals we can take a walk in the mountains. It’s better for yourself, and especially the animals.

Since we're the most developed race on earth right now, and we'll most likely still be in many, many years, it's our responsibility. We're the race that causes the most damage to the earth and nature, not the animals. I think if it was possible that everyone followed the deep ecology's "rules", it would all get better for everyone, human or animal.Most of us just take our beautiful nature for granted so a reminder is always useful; The nature can exist without us, but humans can not exist without the nature.

Sources:      - Searching 10
                   - Horisonter 10
                   - http://epa.gov/acidrain/education/site_students/whatisacid.html
The picture: - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/4348973/Arne-Naess.html