Pretension
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Do we know the sufferings the body and mind undergo?
Biological rhythms of a living being control the oscillations of the mind.
What happens when one of these is off?
Do we know what goes on in the hearts of trees affected by wildfire?
Combustible vegetation rules an uncontrollable fire.
What happens when an intense blaze burns in the leaves and canopies?
Do we know the fish suffocate as they inhale water with industrial wastes?
Depletion of dissolved oxygen in water.
What happens when the riverine’s toxicity rises?
Do we know the agony of fauna, on discovering their home has vanished?
Threatened habitats resulting from the burgeoning human population.
What happens when trees are felled, and forest spaces are cleared?
Do we know the despair of a polar bear drowning in snow-melted water?
Arctic ice in Earth’s refrigerator, declining at an astonishing rate.
What happens when sea ice is lost?
Do we know of the fright of the birds scattering at the burst of firecrackers?
An explosion of heat, sound, and impurities.
What happens when firecrackers are burnt indiscriminately?
Do we know the condition of the species in a war-trodden area?
Heavy metals, toxins, and pollutants house the environment.
What happens when constant cacophony of firearms, missiles, and vehicles does not cease?
Do we remember to revisit the wide tree near our school, providing shade, comfort to play?
Do we feel like hugging our childhood tree and providing it with water?
Have we ever held an ailing hand, caressed a swan in pain?
Whatever happens, let’s pledge not to open our doors to understanding,
suppress the misty, inchoate awareness,
and not to emotionally melt our icy hearts in the heat of destruction.
If we bolt our homes firmly,
will the devastation halt at our doorway?
Searching for more about nature? Try these:
- Ode to the End of the World – Poetry
- On An Earth Day Like Today – Poetry
- Almost Paradise – Gardening Flash Fiction
- A Sighting – Nature Fiction
Sreelekha Chatterjee
Sreelekha Chatterjee lives in New Delhi, India. Her flash fiction was included in Wigleaf’s Top 50 Longlist 2024. Her short stories have appeared in York Literary Review, Flash Fiction North, Friday Flash Fiction, National Flash Fiction Day, Borderless, Usawa Literary Review, Storizen, Five Minutes, 101 Words, Bulb Culture Collective, The Wise Owl, Prachya Review, Literary Cocktail Magazine, and in numerous anthologies such as Fate (Bitterleaf Books, UK), Chicken Soup for the Indian Soul series (Westland Ltd, India), Wisdom of Our Mothers (Familia Books, USA), and several others.
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