Youth Poet Award Finalist: “As Our Mother Withers Away, We Stand By Doing Nothing” by Megumi Jindo
As Our Mother Withers Away, We Stand By Doing Nothing
She feels farther away
now
farther and farther
She rotates
away,
away,
away,
till She's out of grasp.
out of the beautiful stars—
out of eternity.
Her children trash Her,
ravage Her,
damage Her like She’s
going to mend on Her
own.
but really?
She will not be able
to survive,
repair
without Her children
they play with
gunfire
and ignore the world’s
problems,
and yeah, they talk about Her,
advocate for Her, but
in the end, it's all in vain
for nothing comes about.
the flowers that they tread on,
the buildings that they
horrendously crash,
the egocentric trivial problems
that they only care about,
the suffering that they cause.
it's all a game to Her children,
isn't it?
a world with endless time,
a mortal's dying wish
a world with non-tangible pain,
an impossible feat
why can't they just
accept the fact that the world
is theirs
and theirs to take care of?
senseless things that they worry about—
when will they learn?
till then,
Mother Earth cries
and cries
till Her time comes
and Her endless love ends once and for all
and the only thing left
will be: the people
and the dark
like it once
was before the light.
YOUTH POET AWARD FINALIST “As Our Mother Withers Away, We Stand By Doing Nothing”
Megumi Jindo is an upcoming junior in NYC—a rising poet—using her poems to create change and bring solace for the betterment of the world and its peoples. She has been published in various magazines and have received multiple recognitions on her writing. Her winning poem "As Our Mother Withers Away, We Standby Doing Nothing" reflects her worry for her country and feeling of a sense of urge to help people now, before it gets too late and to raise awareness—that people should stop worrying about their trivial matters and realize the significant-growing matters that threaten to consume their very inhabitant (before it gets too late).