WorldEarthDay amid COVID19: The Long Take

And there it was: crisp, clear skies,

The birds having a raging party,

Loud, boisterous, incoherent,

Some short and others high pitched,

The city in full bloom,

With the flowers running a riot,

Fallen leaves, lying silently and thickly,

Scattered around the streets,

A slight rustling and a crunch underfoot,

Whats app messages are full of pictures

Of crystal clean water bodies,

The lockdown prompts one,

To gaze outside of the window,

Into nothingness,

Yet, amidst the lockdown,

Garbage is catching up on us…

***

Earlier, it remained a fixture, across us

Today, it is rearing its ugly side,

Making itself conscious, visible

Accumulating in our homes,

Garbage is catching up on us…

COVID19 is reckoning,

Altering our daily routine,

It’s time to confront our waste,

For all this while,

We looked for new things to buy,

We embraced obsolescence,

With the burgeoning throw-away culture,

Waste was being woven,

Into our everydayness,

Our streets were trashed,

landfills competed with mountain peaks,

And garbage lay invisible,

Not any more,

It’s time to confront our waste,

To all those with power and privilege,

It’s time for us to reflect on our actions,

To all those with power and privilege,

It’s an opportunity to rethink our relationship,

With products, gadgets, textile,

It’s time for us to call out on hypocrisy,

It’s time to reshape notions,

It’s time to demonstrate solidarity,

It’s time to take action,

Zero Waste is not a dream,

It is a possibility,

Zero Waste is not a dream,

It is a lifestyle,

Zero Waste is not a dream,

It is responsibility,

Zero Waste is not a dream,

It is a transformative narrative,

Zero Waste is not a dream,

It is a city vision,

You and I both know,

It’s time to own up to the mess,

You and I both know,

It’s time to step up,

You and I both know,

It’s time to be steward of mother nature.

Pinky Chandran