Dear Earth,

It has been too long since I was able to melt into your grass, too long since I was able to talk to your trees who had become my friends. I miss watching the rainfall around me as I danced to the music of the raindrops against the leaves, beating like a drum or the feel of the ocean’s hugs which embraced me with wonder and ease. I crave the freedom of being able to travel any length to see another creation of your imagination. It has become clear to me though that in these short weeks I miss the parts of you which have been robbed, beaten, and hurt by others like me for years and years. Humans, a species considered a part of nature and yet we have turned against our own. Death may be natural but we have turned it into something else, we have been killing your family, your animals, plants, skies, and oceans, and many without a second of doubt or remorse. So I want to say sorry, for here I have been selfish missing your beauties while you have been watching them be torn from you for all this time.

On March 13, my school was shut down, quarantine began and life as we knew it changed. Coronavirus came in like a sweeping tide wearing a coat of invisibility as it began to wipe people out. It was devastating, every news channel repeated the word death till my mind became numb to the numbers. It was crazy seeing doctors struggling bruise marks on their faces from their masks trying to keep it together but such sorrow and brokenness beneath their eyes. But for a second I saw a sliver of hope for humanity, not regarding coming out of the virus but that humanity still had goodness within it. I saw singing off of balconies in Italy, in England a man walking laps in his backyard as he turned 100, raising money for health workers. In my community friends and family sewing masks and making hand sanitizers and delivering food to the elderly. Quarantine has sparked something within people, I saw hope for you, it demanded more love and made us realize how much we take for granted. The news also began to change, the taunt of deaths still there but China was slowly recovering and it seemed as though the earth was healing. Without humans tearing down your trees, working in factories, driving their cars, taking planes, polluting their communities, and developing land, new life was awakening.

Dolphins had returned to Venice, emissions in China massively declined along with a drop in coal and oil use. It seemed like you were being given a chance to heal, to recover. A part of me believes you were giving us a shock to our systems, scaring us with a final chance to change, to be better. I don’t belong to any religion, I like to believe that nature is my god, that there’s a sort of magic in you that runs through the roots of trees and plants, through the songs of the birds, into the depths of the ocean and flies through the skies. I believe it is your magic that has been begging us to change, and I hoped this was our chance, but we have turned this time into a limbo, emissions in China have spiked back up, people aren’t taking quarantine seriously and humans are turning against each other out of anger and resentment. The virus is impacting the good, the doctors, the homeless, the poor while the rich and powerful aren’t feeling the pain. I’m confused about Earth, was this invisible tide sent by you or are you a spectator like the rest of us?
I wonder what will come from this. There will always be a balance between evil and good, light, and dark; the yin and the yang as cliche as it may sound. There will always be people fighting for good and those who have been buried in hate for too long. In some way, we are fighting a war right now, an inner war, and the question is who will win. Will we come out of this with more love and need to protect you and each other or will we forget it, let it pass us by like every other tragedy.

I hope I can protect you, love you in the way you deserve. I hope I can do my part in being on the right side of history, the side of love. I cannot speak for the rest of the world, I can only speak for myself when I say I will protect you with every fiber of my being. I will love your family as I do mine. I will appreciate every tree for its strength, every leaf for its intricate beauty, every animal for its spirit, I will dance in the rain to put a smile on both our faces, I will believe in the magic of this world for as long as I shall live. I love you, Earth, I’m sorry for the ways we have wronged you but I won’t wallow in sadness or feel sorry for myself, I won’t let hate taint my soul. The only way to get out of this is to love more, to see more, to let my walls down and embrace you with all the love I can.

I expect no reply, I know you are busy with the world and I am only a single drop in your ocean. But I will make my drop count, I will give life wherever I can. Thank you for everything.

With Love,

Skye
MAST Academy
Miami