Maria Rose Sledmere

Take, take, take
away our heartbeats;
our history you sever
as you slash down
our greenery,
annihilate
our endangered species.

Born of an Ice Age,
but still not grown up;
subjected to governments
who on capitalism's
corporate teat, still suck.

We cannot spread our seed
when our cells -
our trees -
are destroyed by machines.

Our future lies in the smog of industry,
of profits, pennies
and pointless treaties;
we are the forests of rain,
the spirits
suffering from West-inflicted pain -
the expiring wildlife
which will, inevitably,
rise against
the world of men.