Justin Raphael Lopez Gutierrez

My child, sit by my side,
have a look outside.
What do you see?

The sun and the sands,
the winds and the waves,
the grass and the trees;

They are our responsibility,
yet we have lost the ability
to maintain the beauty bestowed before us.

This magnificent land is ours,
yet we fail to find the hour
to stop and realize the condition we have left it in.

My child, sit by my side,
have a look outside.
What can you say?

I can only pray
that there be a day
where you can gaze upon the bluest of skies just as I once did;

Where you can experience vitality
from this grim reality
that we have turned our land into;

Where the scent of the meadows
suppress the sorrows
that we've sown on our own soil.

My child, sit by my side,
have a look outside.
What must we do?

Restoration is due;
return earth to its true
colors and vibrance and beauty and grace.

Evoke the natural ways,
bring back the breathable days
when the air was pure and fresh and crisp and clear.

It's time to embrace
positive change,
to shatter the pattern
and break the cyclical destruction
of a home undeniably, unquestionably, irreplaceable.

And I know that we are able
to achieve the sustainable
and throw away the days where disposables were our disabilities.

There is no anonymity.
With one collective identity,
we are all accountable
to this sizeable responsibility

So my child, I tell you,
let the rivers flow,
let the flowers grow,
let the people know,
that the earth needs its glow.

It's an awakening
my child, are you listening?
Beyond that window
is a tomorrow full of opportunity,
and today, we must march in unity
because that is what it takes to rebuild this land.

It's at the palm of our hands
and it's time to take the ultimate stand
for a creation so magnificent.
This world is at war, yet again, the victims are the innocent;
There is no moment to be indifferent.
This land needs to heal, we need not be the impediment
And one thing is evident:
My child, we need our future
But it needs us to be present.