Back in the days, the world was green,

No artificial glow was seen.

The rivers breathed beneath the sky,

While forests stretched from side to side.

But look around—what do we see?

The air grows thick, the waters flee.

The land bears waste, the oceans choke,

While noise and lights surround our home.

We need our lights; we need our streets,

Our homes, our work, our daily needs.

But must each corner brightly glow,

When there is nothing left to show?

We make, we buy, we make some more,

And send more smoke beyond the door.

We chase new things, production grows,

And with it, more pollution flows.

We try to fix what we have harmed,

With newer products, brightly charmed.

We buy, they make, the cycle spins—

And somehow, everyone gets pulled in.

The world has seen enough by now,

We need to step beyond our doubt.

We need to look beyond our walls,

Beyond our worlds, beyond it all.

To see the places where it aches,

The forests lost, the rivers’ breaks.

To understand, to stop, to care,

And feel the weight the Earth must bear.

I don't wish to see the rivers die,

Or watch the forests cut and cry.

I want a future bright and green,

A better world than we have seen.

A world where dreams can rise and grow,

Where innovation helps us go.

Where progress walks with nature's hand,

And greener cities proudly stand.

We need not move a mountain high,

Or change the world with one great try.

Just plant a seed, let one tree grow,

And give it time, and watch it show.

A seed from home, a little care,

Can bring new life to soil laid bare.

A leaf gives shade, a tree gives air,

And feeds the lives that gather there.

The birds find food, the creatures thrive,

The trees grow tall, the soil stays alive.

And as the green begins to grow,

We grow beside it, row by row.

So why do we wait? Why stand aside?

Is helping Earth too hard to try?

Perhaps the work is not so great—

Perhaps we’re simply willing to wait.

We have the seeds, we have the space,

We have the time to make things right.

We know the path, we know the way,

Yet still we watch from out of sight.

If change can start with something small,

Then why do we not start at all?

The world has seen enough,

But not enough to say it’s done.

There is still so much to build,

So much beneath the rising sun.

We need a future dressed in green,

Yet bright with thoughts and innovation.

A world where progress walks with nature,

Not against its own creation.

For Earth does not ask us to stop—

It asks us to choose the wiser way.

To let the forests breathe tomorrow,

And let new ideas light the day.

The future should not wait in darkness;

It should glow with illumination.

For if we care for what we have,

We can create a brighter generation.

And if the green can rise once more,

If life can bloom as it did before,

Perhaps the Earth will smile and say—

“You chose to care.

You chose the way.”

-Yashika, 8th grader [2026]