by Smrithi Senthilnathan
Issue IV: Song Of The Earth has garnered such a tremendous response that we wanted to offer you more content on the issue! To further this objective, we explored the stories behind each piece. We talked to the artists responsible for these wonderful creations, and sought the inspiration for each piece.
This feature is a glimpse into the minds of these wonderful young artists, as they tell us what their piece meant to them. Let us know in the comments which creators' words resonated with you the most <3
Note: The instagram accounts of the creators are mentioned in brackets for you to check out more of their work. Please do give their work the love it deserves :)
POETRY
Elisabeth D - i wish i could heal you (@bethowdiewrites)
I'd like to say this is an ecological poem. It is about wanting to give back to our common home, Earth, despite the hard times. I think it's a good fit for the magazine because everyone can relate to it, no matter the country, no matter the age. I'm personally a teenager and I'm hopeful we can heal Earth if we all work for it, and I hope other teens will too.
Teresa M Medina - Soil and Soul
It doesn't have a direct inspiration, but I'm sure everyone has ever put their feet on the grass, or walked through the woods, and wondered what would it be like to stay there forever, and grow roots somewhere in the wild. This poem tries to reflect that desire to merge with the trees and the sand and everything around us, because that would be more peaceful and just easier for us. I think it fits the theme because it talks about the way we connect with the earth and how we feel a part of it even if our lives don't take place there directly. I think that is something that never dies, and whenever we have the chance, we feel it, and that is what makes us love it and try to protect it.
Kiran - Emerald Dreams (@folklxrei)
I was inspired by the natural disasters, as morbid as it sounds. I wanted to draw attention toward how losing feels, even when it isn’t a person. A forest, in this poem, has the same sentimental value as a person to the narrator. The poem is also about rage, and how we blind ourselves to our future for a transitorily comfortable present.
Arryn Liu - Earth Song & Good Intentions (@arrynnat_the_peculiar)
For ‘Earth Song’, I thought about the beauty of the Earth and how people including myself have done things to harm it in spite of how much we claim to love our planet, which all contribute to global warming. Thus, I wrote down the feelings of remorse and guilt associated with this in the poem. Then for ‘Good Intentions’, as someone who really likes turtles, I have always felt like I needed to say something about the practice of ‘mercy releases’ by certain Buddhists who don’t know any better when they release invasive/ non-native species of animals into the wrong types of habitats for the sake of good karma, ironically causing ecological destruction and unnecessary suffering. As such, I wrote this piece from the perspective of a red-eared slider—a common freshwater turtle—who has been wrongly released into the sea and is thus in pain and angry about his treatment and the hypocrisy and ignorance of the humans who did this to him. To sum things up, both pieces are supposed to reflect how the complacency, ignorance and hypocrisy of humans have harmed the earth and its other animal inhabitants whatever their intentions may be.
Tapasya Bhardwaj - Sorry (@laxmisharmabtp123)
The poem seems to be simple but it contains a lots of things related to nature. Poets mainly write about human emotions by using nature as metaphor and that's why I have mentioned it in the first two lines of every para/stanza to drag more attention and make it more creative that it is mainly and only about nature and it's beauty. Every stanza symbolises different qualities of nature. It has a lot of elements from nature including sun, aurora, moon etc. etc. I kept it simple because I want the readers to focus on the beautiful things I have included.
MG - Melody of Agony (@melifuousgelatoo.writes)
Pondering over this issue, I suddenly remember that in the Islamic world creation story, the Earth cried hard and resisted when the Angel tried to take a piece of soil to make humans. That made me realise how cries can be another way you interpret Song of the Earth.
Then I also remember how ridiculous it was when Earth day came and we would be told to make save earth; go green posters for school projects when all we did was nothing but wasting papers. I think most students have experienced wasting tons of papers throughout studying at school, which really, can be improved if only the teachers actually cared a bit about the Earth.
Ava Palmer - Pondering (@avajanepalmer)
This poem is inspired by my growing concern over the state of the world. I like to study astronomy, and so I am in constant reminder of just how brutal our universe is, and how lucky we are to live on a planet as hospitable as Earth. I think this is a problem that affects everyone, but it affects young people most of all, though we are not the ones who caused the problem in the first place.
Though it may be easy to live in blissful ignorance of climate change, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore. I think young people are worried. We are choking in a fire that we never started.
This poem, like many others, is about the beauty and resilience of nature. Life on Earth has survived at least five mass extinctions, and so, there is hope. We live such busy lives, we fail to listen to the Earth, and take the time to experience nature. I wrote this poem as a reminder that life is both finite and resilient. We each possess our own power to change the world, for better or worse.
Shamik Banerjee - To A Fountain (@where_tales_end)
If I were to attribute this poem to a particular scene or name, the credit would fall short as I have been privileged to see many breathtaking fountains, especially in Northeast India. Not to mention the pristine beauty of the south and its wondrous hills, the short hills of Meghalaya and the sweet melodious streams falling from them had captivated me the most.
Nethi - earth. (@venus.in.verse)
I feel as if my poem represents the true power of nature and how much nature can mean to us. It is a driving force in all our lives and we should appreciate it for everything it gifts us with.
Olajide Overcomer - You Can Not Hear The Earth Speak
You can not hear the earth speak explored the disconnection between humans and nature. Humans tend to overlook the beauty in little things of the earth. I aim to emphasize on the significance of even the smallest details in our world, their origin and meaning or the mysteries behind them. A repetition device was used to emphasize on our ignorance.
Elisabeth Flett - Callieach (@essaflett)
Inspired by the windswept landscape of the Uists in Scotland, this piece of writing is a modern take on the Scottish tale of the Callieach, an ancient folkloric figure known for her power to alter landscapes, throw rocks and change the seasons. What better place for such a wild woman to retire, I thought, than one of the wildest places I know? The addition of a dog was inspired by one of my favourite fictional witches of all time, Tiffany’s Granny from Terry Pratchett’s Wee Free Men series.
Elisabeth Flett - Aberdeen Beach (@essaflett)
A few years ago I signed up to an online course in witchcraft, interested to know more about the esoteric and explore religious beliefs outside the institutionalised practises of Christianity, the religion with which I grew up.
On the night of Halloween we were encouraged to do something which connected us to our ancestors, and as the descendent of Aberdeenshire fishing folk I went down to the beach near where I lived in Aberdeen to look out on the sea where they once worked so many decades previously.
The weather was outrageous; a true storm, one that hurled icy rain in my face and stopped my steps with wild, furious wind. Battered and bruised by the elements, I never the less paid the disbelieving taxi driver, stepped into the darkness and screamed my pre-planned spell into the black, my words drowned by the sounds of sea and howling gale. The rest of the experience can only really be described as the unarguable fact that something definitely heard me, and something certainly replied; I even felt a very strong request for the hymn May Your Anchor Hold, which made sense since many of my family were apparently staunch members of the Salvation Army, but tricky for me as someone who had never been to a SA service in my life!
The whole experience was otherworldly; afterwards, dripping and shivering in the Pizza Hut bathroom trying to wring saltwater out of my clothes, I wasn’t sure what I’d done or who I’d potentially just met, their ghosts reaching out to me in the dark. This poem is an attempt to describe that lifting of the veil that night, and I love performing it live as a sort of (much drier!) re-imagining of that magical experience.
Cyrus Berry - he is my world. (@starchildcy)
What inspired me to write this poem was the love me and my partner share. As a teen, I feel like we’re all desperately searching for someone to love us and for someone to love. I want to share my work so others know that it is possible, especially for queer youth.
Maggie - Plants Get Tired, Too (@musingsofmaggie)
I wrote this poem a year or so ago while prepping for college admissions—I was severely falling into a pit of unreasonable and unhealthy ambition. I rewrote it recently with a kinder narrative; I hope it can serve as a reminder to other teens in that pit that it’s okay and necessary to slow down.
Vastriane - The River of Rue (@vastriane)
Sophocles' play, "Antigone," was my favorite one out of the Oedipus Rex trilogy. This three-fold tragedy and the intricate manipulation of the Fates of the lives of Antigone, Ismene, and Creon inspired this poem, which originally followed the syntax of Louise Gluck's "The Triumph of Achilles," but with the incorporation of nature elements that symbolized the characters. "Antigone" stuck with me since I read it for the first time for an academic report in high school, mostly because, despite it being a tragedy, I enjoyed the way Aeschylus portrayed the interwoven lives of such differing characters. I believe that it has a certain brilliance, the showcasing of death and love side by side—both so beautiful and haunting—which is what I also want to echo for the young readers. Death is a part of nature, just as love is, as honor, as life, and as the patches of sunlight that shine through the leaves and branches of a tree. I hope that the aforementioned trilogy and my poem serve as reminders that just because death is terrifying doesn't mean it's unnatural. Just different. Finally, as part of the writing community, I also hope that we can write more about death as a part of nature and the many ways we react or reflect on it, so that it won't just be an idea only associated with fear.
PROSE
Sophia Wang - i want to see the stars one day (@fya.heathers_writes)
"i want to see the stars one day" is a tale spun from a few of my deepest thoughts, wishes, and dreams. I have always loved nature, from the stars in the sky to the sparkling waters that reflect them. I love watching sunrises and going camping and walking in the forest. Yet, I have often received implied invalidation for my love of nature and desire to protect it. In my short story, this sentiment is reflected in Angelica's parents' ignoring her dream to travel to Iceland. Moreover, her resolve and courage to defy her parents' expectations embody my goal to free myself from others' critical ideas of my dreams and embrace my willingness to fight to preserve nature. As this piece empowered me, I hope it will also empower other teens to step forward to protect the Earth and all its beauty.
Jake Malaya - the last words of the mud nymph (@jake_malaya)
When I think of nature, the first thing that comes to my mind is how it's alive and beating, how it's constant and variable. In a way, the earth has its memories. And when you think about it, it's magical and ethereal. Even when we build cities and empires, we always commune with nature and its beauty. After all, we come from it and we also benefit from it. Regardless of where we are from, nature plays a crucial role in our history. This piece calls for us to reflect on the past that has shaped us and to take inspiration from the ground that we walk on.
Grace - Symphony of Freedom (@snowflake12374)
To me, nature means many different things, and displays many things. One thing it displays well is beauty. However, it crossed my mind that not many have sat down and thought about our relationship with the earth. Not many have appreciated it for what it is and was, at least not in the realm of writing. I tried to solve this in my own way, which inspired my story. I hope other teens can also come to appreciate the wonder of earth, too.
CREATIVE NON-FICTION
My Soul's Designs - One Breath (@mysoulsdesigns)
This story was inspired by my own personal healing journey. From a young age I’ve always questioned society, my purpose, the purpose of life. I felt so constrained and restricted by society. It wasn’t until I began to recognize how we as humans have become so far replaced from nature that I began to come back to myself and heal. It’s my journey of coming back to myself and the Earth.
Sunny Solaris - Mother Nature's Revenge (@sunnyyisawriter)
This was inspired from one of my school assignments for economics last year from when we were learning about problems going around in the world and one of the topics we explored was the coral bleaching of the Great Barrier Reef. I'm not so sure about teens relating to it but for myself, helping the Earth is one of the things I fight for. I think that this piece is a good fit for this theme.
Smrithi Senthilnathan - The Diminishing Influence of Nature in the Digital World (@theunwrittenstories101)
There's no denying our world is becoming hyper-focused on technology and scientific advancement, pushing nature to the background. However this is backfiring on us tremendously. Everyday I wake up to a new climate disaster- either a wildfire or glaciers melting or toxic smoke emissions - the list goes on and on. In such a world, it is important to at least acknowledge what is happening to our country. We cannot take any action if we do not first acknowledge that we need action in the first place. I know this article does not contribute to actually improving the way in any possible. However my goal is to get people talking about the climate disaster. The more people that talk, the more likely people in power are to take proper action. The most useful action can be taken by those in power- and for them to do so we must pressurize them into it. Thus I hope everyone who reads this article continues to spread the word about climate change, and we create enough of a rebellion for actual change to occur.
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