Ezekwesiri's Letter

Dear Future Recipient,

Sorry we've left a troubled world behind. I did the best I could and then I died. I have attached a poem. It is a constant reminder of how things have fallen apart.

Yes the acid rain has bleached the colors of the earth (killed her biodiversity). But you can turn the ashes beneath your feet to green power... to illuminate the path for future generations... to keep the dream alive: of us emerging from ruins to win.

Also, remind your leaders (as I have): that placing profits above sustainability is a futile exercise for mankind. The time for climate action is now.

Poem: Acid Rain

Man and machine
Dope the land, sea and greens
Dark mist, coughed by pipes
Mixes with water summoned up high

Dark clouds form; block the sun
...volatile like the drunk on concoction
Bound to fall when it swells, ripens and bursts
...lightening flash and thunderclaps, afterwards

The rainstorm: a harvest of giant tears
Drawn from gases that torch the lungs
Drops, like swords, breech the biosphere
Acid floods bleach the earth’s crust

Trees are falling; fishes are dying
Metals are rusting, and monuments are crumbling
Men are hurting; a city on acid
An empire of fossil fuel: now reduced to grey ashes