Our voices!
The echoes of your voice are light,
My voice is my freedom.
Our voices should be alive,
I, you, and us, we have our own narratives.
Inclusion is the linchpin to sustainability,
I have a role to tell my story,
A story for my community.
I can no longer let others speak for the needs of my community,
I know the needs of my community.
I want to care for my environment.
Your voice should speak out,
You must act and work for your community.
Your community is in desperate need for your ideas,
Why let others leave you behind?
Our society needs our voices,
Our voices and actions will lead to inclusive societies,
Societies that leave no one behind.
We need the voices of the marginalized,
We need the voices of power to plan for tomorrow.
Inclusion is the ultimate key to sustainability.
Care for our planet
Feel the endless need
Of caring for our planet,
Remember the future generations.
The world we live,
History records the stories—
Environmental degradation.
Every year we lose
Natural resources due to:
Veld fires, climate change and catastrophic disasters.
Industrial pollution is taking over,
Resource depletion engendering a new crisis,
Oceans, seas, rivers facing the blow,
Nuclear issues triggering conflicts.
Maybe we need collaborative planning,
Environmental management for all, by all.
No, No, many big No’s top-down approaches—
They have not worked!
AFRICA
In the land of Africa times of plenty—come.
Harvests of good seeds—strive.
The lands are fertile yet some starve,
Mama Africa conflict lives—stop the war.
Tears are crying as guns blaze in many villages,
The cost is high as most flee to safer zones.
In the land of Africa the days are uncertain
For the streets still sing songs of freedom.
North, South, East and West children cry,
Africa, Africa are you dying from within or what?
Across the forests of Africa vegetation once stood manifold,
But now fires spread and decimate flora and fauna.
Pangolins, rhinoceros and elephants are crying,
And the future of our friends is on the demise.
As years fly the future for the unborn child remains thin;
Smoke erodes the fresh air,
Our once rich soils are phasing out and river basins wilting.
Hills and mountains stand defenseless.
© 2020, Shoko Cosmas
SHOKO COSMAS is a Zimbabwean poet. He has published works in Zimbolicious Volume 1 and Volume 2 anthologies, Paragon Journal, Centum Press, Basho Haiku Festival, Brave Voices Poetry: Journal 58: Griots of Tuku Samanyanga as well as in other several anthologies in different parts of the world . He is a Midlands State University Masters Alumni graduate.
The BeZine 
Well said! Thank you for raising awareness and for sharing this with us. 🙂
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