Hi All
It’s been a busy summer and so many of you have been writing poetry and sending it to me, for which I thank you.
This month's subject is Family Tree and I look forward to receiving your entries by the 26th September.
Last month’s poetry competition in the Barnet Borough Times and Harrow Times proved popular with lots of you having thoughts on Going Green.
Our Harrow winner was Alan Tremeer:
Going green by Alan Tremeer
Sustainable and ethical
Go green with everything
That’s why our waste collection
Has a different colour bin
A black one for all foodstuff
Recycling goes in blue
Green for other rubbish
It’s so easy to do
Use eco-friendly products
Zero plastic always buy
My carbon footprint is reduced
Because I never fly
Take a bus or even walk
When your journey isn’t far
Emissions cause pollution
When you use a car
The shopping bag I use for life
Toilet paper in my loo
Like my bio handwipes
Is recycled too
We’ve still got time to change things
Earth’s future is at stake
Preventing global warming
For all our children’s sake
Barnet’s winning poet was Richard Adam
DON'T BE SO GREEN by Richard Adam
There is the screaming sound
Of seagulls littered up and around landfills
And there are still mounds of paper bills
There are empty coke cans strewn along beaches
And bulging black bags of mouldy peaches
In the stillness of a perfect aqua ocean
Slowly drifts a choked sea porpoise pup,
Washing up on festering sands
Because of all the chewed plastic Its throat all cut up
So let's have a plan
Let seagulls pinch fish ‘n’ chips
Instead of diving into waste
Taking fatal dips.
Let us respect our weary Planet Earth
And put an end to trees engulfed in smoke and flame
And teach our children to always do the same
Some of our runners up were:
Kusum Hars wrote an excellent poem on the subject:
Going Green by Kusum Hars
She gave us everything food water and fresh air
Nurtured us all our life with loving care
We took away everything from her in our greed
Did not realise she has more generations to feed
She will be a mother for generations to come
So we need to wake up and fix the damage done
Forests destroyed giving way to city after city
Oil reserves in the earth will be finished, a pity
Chemicals and cars polluting the air we breathe
And plastics if not recycled will claim the ground underneath.
So go green, go green my friends and unite
To save this mother earth from this horrible plight
Plant trees so we notice less of the climate change of today
Which cause sudden floods and droughts in the world these days
Use the water carefully so we do not finish it all as is said
By the ground water table, lest our kids have none instead
Do not pollute the air with too many industries and cars
Learn to balance as balance is the secret of this earth of ours.
Plastics cannot be burnt as the gases given are harmful to us
So recycle and make sure they go in the right bin without a fuss.
Going Green - Howard Lambe
Plastic bags were once the rage
But now we have turned the page
Our love of plastic is changing to hate
As our precious planet we have to save
Automobiles will need to change
From petrol and diesel to electric power
If this doesn't happen the air we breathe
Will poison us all and life expectation dire
Reduction of cattle herds is a must
To lesson the effect of methane gas
Thousands of trees will need to be planted
To combat C.O2 emissions to our advantage
Coal is almost a forgotten memory
Wind turbines and solar energy have taken its place
Next to go will be wood burners as they too emit noxious fumes
The green revolution is gathering pace
Going Green is spreading across the globe
More and more countries are coming on board
In time with hope this emergency will become a common cause
And the earth will be saved our descendants future assured
GOING GREEN By Atiya Saithna
For Going Green do not be selfish and mean
You have to be keen not to be mean
Use the colour coded bins Brown, Blue and Green
Help the council to get to go Green
The fish in the water needs to be edible
Other creatures to be adorable
The greens need to be fresh
Meat needs to be an occasional treat
Have this protein as a feast
Let’s take care of our beautiful planet Reduce, Reuse and Recycle
For we are here to enjoy it and not ruin it with our litter
Lets keep our Earth Let’s go Green
But we are so very mean we are selfish and unclean
Stop the plastic pollution stop using it
Plastic bags, bottles and boxes are not worthy the toxic
Rubbish here and rubbish there walking near Pinner farms
The plastic bags fly into my arm the tin cans by the fence
How can we defend
Our beautiful planet is going to die
Unless we all decide to fly high
In Going Green ,think green, act green and live green
To see the greatest planet ever seen.
MARGARET REILLY
Whew what a day! She was glad to be home
But oh no what a greeting a bill or two and a messy kitchen with rubbish askew
Like she didn't have enough to do!
Sifting the recycling from the rubbish then carrying it through
Muttering angrily what shed say to a few
Finally coming to her blue bin where she posted her papers and cardboard
Along to pastures new
And then followed her old jam jars washed and sparkling like new
Not to mention an empty wine bottle or two
Suddenly she noticed her mood was improving
What on earth made this procedure so soothing?
Was it the satisfaction of doing her bit for the environment
Or seeing the abundance of her life of to cycles new
Well whatever it was she returned to the house full of vigour anew
Time to prepare dinner and save all her peels
Maybe say a prayer of thanks for the lovely meal that they'd have
And all those that they'd had!
GOING GREEN by Rose Wilson
Though Earth is in its infancy and should be in the pink
Mankind has wiped out species and pushed others to the brink
The Dodo was a fearless bird, too friendly to its cost.
We fail to value what we have until the thing is lost
Black smoke enshrouds the Amazon, it signals a stark warning
As grieving Mother Nature clothes herself in partial mourning
Our precious blue planet is understandably that hue
Abused, raped and poisoned by the likes of me and you
Each time we leave a light on, use another plastic bag
Or buy a bigger, faster, car, or light another fag
Earth’s fragile ecosystem is put under yet more strain
Diminishing the ozone and producing acid rain
We’re all in this together, whether a cobbler or the Queen
We can only have a future that’s sustainable and green
As the death knell tolls for the receding of the poles
And Pollutants stir emotions in the oceans of our souls
Could we reverse the damage to the Great Barrier Reef?
What if by an outpouring of our combined global grief
We create a vast tsunami of tears with which to clean
Our bloodstained hands, then turn the tide by opting to go green?
Going Green by Shreya Tanna
Tar black factory fumes rising rapidly ahead, crushed water bottles guarding an azure seabed
Shopping bags tangled in a bluebird’s delicate wings, litter in their nest - they no longer sing
A beautiful forest habitat on a lush tropical island, uprooted and urbanised - an unwise choice by Man
Carbon emissions clouding already foggy heads, our ever giving planet soon to be dead
Should we choose not to nurture and offer her love, our health and wellness will venture in a downward curve
Recycling bins full of less plastic than the sea, and yet we claim to be intelligent with regard to humanity
Simply unaware adult visions impact young minds, our planet needs help - it’s not hard to read between the lines
Increasing global temperatures and melting ice caps, our generation falling into a foul contaminated trap
The youths of today, the forefront of society, Eyes glued upon devices so intently
Less time spent caring for Earth, in all her humble glory, assisting her genially with the continuation of her story
Replanting each flower and tree we uproot from her skin, rebirthing the ground, so selfish ideas don't win
Our duty to respond to Earth’s unsubtle pleas, reducing waste and walking in attempt to 'Go Green'
- Going Green
by Ian Herne
- The planet is dying.
- I'm mortified, not lying.
- Methane and fossil fuels
- Are thrown in the air like balls.
- But balls come down with gravity
- While the gases mix with alacrity.
- Going green means thinking and caring
- Not turning our backs and swearing.
- Remember the garden, the birds and the bees
- We must keep them forever, forever please.
- Recycling, reusing, and enthusing
- About the planet we love, and refusing
- To tolerate plastic in oceans and wrapping
- On foods, clothing and machines, trapping
- Our minds into thinking it's okay to keep doing
- Mindless, unnecessary acts of vandalism while ruing
- The day we all learnt that our world was in danger
- Of falling and failing our children like an evil stranger.
- So we must go green, fight the march to kingdom come,
- Reuse, recycle, repurpose, oust coal, deep fracking and restore the
- crumb of hope.
Going Green by Jeffery A Edmunds
I looked it up on the internet
I mean, it’s a big subject
From battery cars to solar panels
Saving power at home: less use of
lights, computer, TV channels
Then there’s your “carbon
footprint.” How often you fly,
drive the car, take a bus, train
Won’t you try to walk more, use
“pedal power” when you can?
Compost your waste food, sort
your waste for recycling. Plant
a tree, scattering bug-friendly
wild flowers and green things
Re-use your containers, old tins
One thing more to try, if you can
Campaign against war, conflict. War
burns: destroys lives, more than all
you can ever save. Get government
to wake up to peace initiatives
Have a good month and don't forget to enter the Family Tree competition.
Judy
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