“What Is Earth Day to the Forgotten?” To you who gather, clad in hopeful green, Hands cupped around the flicker of today, Earth Day to you might be a spirited scene, A chance to change, or at least to say. But what is Earth Day to the shadowed places, To the lungs that breathe the factories’ sighs? To those whose rivers run with toxic traces, Underneath your clear, forgiving skies? Earth Day, to the most vulnerable, is irony— A token passed in games they cannot play. You speak of green, yet their reality Is the gray of dust, the mire of decay. To the most polluted, Earth Day whispers cruel jokes, Where trees once stood, now only stumps remain. You pledge to plant anew, but the land invokes The old trees’ pain, forgotten in your gain. And to the sacrificed, what does this day declare? A promise, thin as air, that shudders in the wind, Of rights that vanish like smoke, leaving bare The truth of how deeply your progress has sinned. To the original ones, keepers of the covenant with nature, Who understand that every day is Earth's, Your rituals of respect paint a vivid picture— Of balance, that no policy can rehearse. America, oh land of freedom, land of might, Your festivities of Earth ring somewhat hollow. When freedom means some must fight To breathe, to drink, to live, to follow. For beneath your banners, stark disparities; A nation, proud and free, yet comfortably numb To those who suffer environmental calamities, Invisible in classrooms, in outcomes, in sums. Earth Day to them? A reminder of neglect, Of battles fought against an unseen hand, That writes policies with a disconnect, Between the lived, the suffered, and the planned. So today, as you don your Earth Day best, Remember the forgotten, the hurt, the strained. Their Earth Day is a test, Of whether your words will finally be sustained. To you, I say: let not this day be just a gesture, But a commitment, firm, to undo the wrong, To those who bear the cost of your venture, Make this Earth Day where they truly belong. ©️MustafaSantiagoAli #EcoPoetry #EnvironmentalJustice #ClimateJustice #Health #EarthDay2024 #EarthDayEveryDay