Aldo Leopold Project

• published: 28 Jun 2015
• views: 80

A poem/video project about Aldo Leopold's book Sand County Almanac. Sadie Price-Elliott-- April 2015 -- THANKS TO all my lovely friends that helped me out xx Right now. One world. Is all we have. All the insects and soil and leaves from the trees All the water and the flowers and the clouds and the bees All the people and the animals and the land of the free We all have this land, this land is all we have. Humans. We’ve always been innovative creatures. Now up to this day we live for new iphone features. In the meantime other animals that inhabit this planet Are disappearing by the day Since humans take this land for granted Unfazed by the smell of concrete And power plant smoke in the air Kardashians and social media is attracting all our care Each time I drive by the power plant in the field The puffs of dirty smoke fill me up with frustration I’m confused with what’s humane and what’s plain insane. There are malls in clear-cut forests Designer clothes made from fox fur We’ve imposed on the land’s kindness And this cannot go for much longer Let me tell you that California’s in a drought and they’re running out of water But the thing is that you too are running out of water We all share this water and this water’s all we have Because soon the whole world will have no more water left to grab And When I say we I’m talking about the people. But not just the people, I’m talking about the other species that depend on this land I’m talking about the rabbits in their homes and the snakes in the sun. We are the community and we all should be treated equal. The other day I was reading a book by Aldo Leopold The pages were dusty and the cover was torn Everything about this book appeared to be old And every bit was, except the concepts that he told It soon got me thinking about the soil in the fields The roots diving into the earth The acorns and the squirrels It got me thinking about the land and the way I call it mine And I began to wonder just when we crossed the line So this problem goes back to the human revolution And now the problem is are you working on a solution? There’s a finite amount of time A finite amount of pines And the way we live on this one home we got is not at all fine Leopold’s land ethic for the future of conservation Defines a relationship between the land and the nation A relationship that works together That strengthens one another A relationship that works for every being in this world A relationship that moves forward and makes every being better My own land ethic means getting to know the land Going outside as often as I can Sitting in the breeze under the sunlight or the rain Touching the grass with two bare feet And greeting each being when we first meet It means not forgetting about the past but always thinking about the future It includes using the power that we’ve used in the past To make a world more sustainable, a world to last And everything will swing back in full circle one day The oil that comes to your house from thousands of miles away Though the drought isn’t in your backyard It’s still a drought and it’s in this world And it all will affect you no matter what you say Lately I’ve been thinking about who I am to be And I don’t want to study plants Or the birds Or the trees I think I want to write Or take pictures of what I see But to say that’s all I want to be Is absurd. I want to play a part in the land history I want to help spread the word To the world Across the sea I want to share what I think with the community I want to find a sense in the world, of unity. And humans have always been innovative creatures We’ve fought off the sea cows, rhinoceros But we saved the eagle We are using the oil too fast to catch But we’re building solar panels and recycling when we can We’ve built a generation obsessed to their screens But don’t underestimate because young people are capable beyond belief What I’m trying to say is I’m not gonna lie We are powerful people, which you can’t deny Ever since we began the industrial revolution We’ve built computers for your pocket and rockets and planes We’ve built cars that run on solar and cars that have a brain We’re gonna send our species on a one way trip to Mars My generation won’t stop dreaming until we get beyond the stars And that proves we have it in us to come up with a solution So start a revolution, stop the pollution You are part of one world that our community shares So use your time wisely and do something that you care about This is the land we have and the land for the future The land that you live on, the only land you have. Everything you have learned to know Every friend you have met and made Every step you have taken to grow Was on this land. So treat it with respect.