We’ve been busy with the planet, as you might just know
Our minds have been preoccupied; it might well show
We’ve been up to London, protesting for our right
To have a healthy future of which, we mustn’t lose sight
We’ve stood up to the government and fought for Mother Earth
We’ve spoken our minds, and we’ve had our pennyworth
This is an emergency; our PM doesn’t care
While fossil fuel pollution permeates our air
Our battle isn’t over; we won’t give up the fight
We’ll shout, drum and protest to emphasise our plight
Politicians fill their pockets and won’t listen to the facts
They don’t hear the pleas of scientists, who say we need to act
We all need to pull together; every single soul
Give power to the people, and no more digging coal
Stop drilling in the oceans and pulling up the oil
Stop killing all our wildlife and poisoning our soil
The butterflies and insects are dying out so fast
Our fish are full of plastics, and the damage will last
We’re chopping down our trees; the forests getting bare
There are many people starving because the rich won’t share
The bees are getting rarer; they’ll be no more pollination
The crops will all fail; what of the next generation?
We must stand up for them; we don’t want them to die
The human race must listen, or its plans will go awry.
With thanks to all my wonderful, caring rebel-friends in Extinction Rebellion, who made this amazing protest possible and inspired me to write this poem. Love you all. Xx 💚💚💚
Essentially Ellie 
I did a search this AM for XR articles on the protest. I found one on BBC that was pretty sparse and got into the topic of XR being a disruptive organization (although they did concede that there was zero disruption during the protest). The general mood seemed slanted against XR. I found it interesting (and sad), and it’s something I’ll be looking for in the future on BBC. I think environmental groups are fairly well represented in the states. Now that it’s on my mind, I’ll start looking for biases.
Thanks very much for taking an interest, Jeff. That means a lot to me. I’d be interested to hear if you come across anything worthwhile, good or bad. I’m glad to hear that environmental groups are well-represented over there. The BBC’s coverage over here was virtually nil, considering we made an enormous effort to make this action family-friendly and peaceful. After four days of peaceful action, we had asked the government to respond to us by 5pm on Monday. We were met with stony silence! I despair of them ever taking the climate emergency seriously. As a movement, XR are now asking, ‘What do we do next?’ I’m not sure what the answer will be yet. I daresay there’ll be much discussion amongst our rebel groups before this is decided. Thanks again, Jeff.
Excellent, Ellie. Send it to XR headquarters. They just might publish it for you somewhere. I think it deserves a home away from home.
Thank you, J. I hadn’t considered that, but I will give it some thought. I’m glad that you liked my poem – that means a lot to me. I can’t seem to think about anything else at the moment. We are likely to have a debrief for all the rebels who took part in any way. It’ll be a good place to talk it all over. I need to get my head back into a space where I can concentrate on other things, too, like reading blogs, which I haven’t been able to catch up with yet. Thanks again, J. 💚
A matter of semantics. Rebels by definition are losers. Better to call yourselves revolutiobaries. Revoolutionaries are winners.
Thanks, J. I hadn’t thought of that, although we are known as rebels in our own organisation and I think it would take more than me to make such a big change; however, I will point this out at our next meeting.
Good luck. Some people enjoy being rebels because it sounds cool. But in reality, they are holding themselves back from being taken serioysly. If they don’t think they csn win, why bother.
I’m not trying to be negative, I am all in favour if what you all are doing, and hope to hell you win. I just want to help give you the best chance of that.
Thanks, J. I do appreciate your concern, although with thousands of rebels all around the world, it would be difficult to get the word out there of a new description of ourselves. I think, the fact we are called Extinction Rebellion tells people we are rebels anyway. However, I will bring it up at the next group meeting and let you know what is said and if anything comes out of it.
Yeah, I guess Extinction Rebellion sounds cooler than Extinction Revolution, and in truth the declaration cannot be determined until battles are won or lost (we are all rebels until we win, then we can be called revolutionaries), but why wait? Being revolutionary is a good thing, and the world needs good things now. 50 years down the road might not be good enough. Just saying…
I really wonder what life will bring for my two grandchildren. When I was at their age no computers, CDs, no Internet……so much has changed, but the changes for these little people could be devastating if the world continues to walk blindly towards the future.
I know just how you feel, Geoff. So much has changed in our lifetime, but there have been a vast number of changes for our children to come to terms with. As for their futures, I am very fearful for them. For all our efforts and the efforts of people who care, if the powers that be don’t act now, it will all be too late—such a depressing and frightening thought.
The XR event was held over four days and was attended by nearly 90,000 people on Saturday alone, and still, the government won’t take any notice. Our very reasonable demands were met by absolute silence. If we thought the 41-degree heatwave we had last year was bad, I can’t imagine what our children and grandchildren will have to contend with. It’s not just the UK, the US or other first-world countries who will suffer, but the people in the third world will suffer far more intensely than we will, and yet, they are not the ones polluting the planet. It’s what we call Climate Injustice. Thanks for caring about this essential matter and possible dire consequences. You are not alone.
I haven’t searched to see how your protest was covered, but I mentioned to a friend that I thought I saw more ground roots coverage (ie WordPress blogs and social media posts) this year on Earth Day than I ever remember in the past. Now that could just be me, but I still found it interesting to see the number of posts talking about taking better care, etc. Lovely poem.
Thanks for your interest and for enjoying my poem, Brian. There wasn’t much coverage over here at all, certainly in the mainstream media. I did notice Earth Day was mentioned more frequently in other places, as you did. As a passionate organisation, XR won’t give up the fight – if that’s all we can do to make our point, then, so be it.
P.S. I’m sorry I haven’t been able to keep up with your blog recently, Brian. As you can tell, I’ve been super-busy and still haven’t caught up on any of my blogging friends’ posts. I’ll get there at some point but please, don’t think I’m not following you anymore.
Loving your poem, Ellie! It’s amazing. I’m so proud of you and your friends for standing up for climate change. So many of us SAY we want things to change but then so few of us DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. Sending you big hugs, you’re a legend xx
Thank you so much, Janet. Perhaps, one day before it is all too late, people might step up and take some responsibility for their own actions, but so few do. The problem is that we don’t have time on our side. If we start now, maybe we’ll be able to stop things getting worse, although what is done is done already, and short of changing our behaviour. not flying so much, especially short flights if there is another option, stop space travel, eat less or no meat, thereby using the land where food is grown for cattle to grow crops for people to eat. Apparently, a huge percentage of crops are grown to feed animals so that we can eat them, but if we used those crops to feed people, there would be hardly any starving people in the world. Sorry, I’ve gone on about all this again. It’s my passion.
I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to read your posts recently (I’ve not read anyone else’s either) – I just haven’t had a chance with all my stuff going on. I have about 200 email notifications sitting in my inbox, reminding me of how far behind I am. Perhaps, I’d better leave those behind and start afresh today. I do hope you (and others) will understand. Big hugs to you, too Xx 🤗💚
Oh my days, Ellie – you don’t have to read my posts at all. I’d rather know you were able to concentrate on what you wanted to do and on your health rather than worry you’re not keeping up with my posts. I have a feeling a lot of people would feel the same 🙂 we all love you and the important thing here is to support you. I’ve got you, my friend xx
I do love reading your posts, though, but it’s lovely to know you understand, Janet. That’s really so kind of you. I will try to catch up with your latest posts when I can. Thank you very much for your love and wonderful support. That means an awful lot to me. Thanks again, dear friend. Xx 😊💖
That’s very well written, Ellie.
Thanks, Mick. Sorry I’m so behind with your (and everyone else’s) posts. As you can see, I’ve been so busy with XR and going to London. I will try to catch up soon. X 😊.
Don’t worry. You’re focussed on what matters.
This poem is spot on. It is sad our species cant see the global picture.
Thank you, Brian. It is a great shame they can’t see it at all, I agree. It’s really vital that they do, though; eventually might just be too late.
Nice & advisable you sharing your pulling together for climate change.
Love your poem, Ellie! It’s great you and your friends standing up for climate change. Sending you big hug! That’s very well written!, Ellie 🤠
Thank you so much, Rajkkhoja. I very much appreciate your comment and appreciation. I’m glad you enjoyed my poem, too. I am passionate about acting on climate change, as you can tell. Big hug for you, too Xx 🤗💕
Thanks lot , 💓
Such a wonderful poem full of passion and the shout of for Mother Earth our beautiful planet!!!! Yes to taking a stand!!! 💗🎉👏
Thank you so much, CIndy. How lovely of you to say that. I’ve felt passionate about trying to save our planet for a long time, but this protest captured all my feelings about this. Our planet is in danger and we have to do our utmost to protect her as best we can. Thanks again for your support. Xx 💚
You’re so very welcome!!! Always Ellie!!! it’s very true! 💗
It makes my heart warm to know my sisters and brothers are paying attention and saying: enough, no more…
So glad you feel that way, too, Richard. I agree; we all must stop and say, enough is enough and start looking after our planet. After all, it’s the only one we have (for now, at least). I have my own views about space travel, whether going to the moon or trying to get to Mars. My thoughts on this are not favourable. It’s all terribly damaging to our Earth. As a piece I wrote recently said, “There is no planet B.” 💚
EET don’t make me cry with this poem
Because I know this is happening around me and I feel very helpless. I want more people to more concerned about our earth 😞
We have only 1 planet, and we are killing it. Yes those who are in power, aren’t doing anything for it. Those who have no power, can’t do anything for it.
I wonder what will be our future 😶
I understand how you feel, Devang; I really do. The effects of the climate emergency are indeed all around us. We need the governments to act, but as you said, they ignore the facts. The ‘little’ people with no power can only do things that will help on a very minor scale. We need worldwide action to happen, but without a responsible government, it isn’t likely to happen. Many of our politicians often have families with children and grandchildren … don’t they care about their futures!? It makes me wonder. We live in scary times; I’m afraid to say. I don’t intend to give up what my XR friends and I are doing, although, again, we are each only ‘the little man’. Don’t give up, though, my friend. Every little bit we can do will, hopefully, encourage others to do the same. Take care 🌎.
Government needs to get involved in this.
I wonder what will make them.
This is same everywhere 😔
It’s now or never
Amen Ellie 🙏🙏🙏
Thank you, Maggie. Sorry, I didn’t see your comment earlier – for some reason, it ended up in my spam folder. I appreciate your comment – I feel the same. X 🌳
No apology needed Ellie.
I dont think WordPress likes me🤣
You are the second person today that said I am in the spam folder.
Tc hun
Xx
Thanks, Maggie. Oh, dear, I’m sure it’s nothing personal on the part of WP 😁. I often get comments that end up in spam, especially from new readers. I do check my spam every couple of days, though; sometimes there are only a few comments from others, but sometimes there are more than a dozen. I just delete those. Have a great day and take care, too. Xx 🥰
You too my friend xx🥰