By: Sarah Usmani, picture courtesy of Yasmine Youssef

Just a few centuries ago,
Fire, Water, Air, and Earth were all pure.
Fire, once the only source of heat,
Is now flaming from burning body heaps.
Water, once the nourishing source,
Now gushes from pipes drowning corpse after corpse.
Air, once the pure and clear source of life,
Now intoxicates, and wounds deeper than a knife.
And Earth, that once provided a ground to walk on,
Is now drastically bombed on.
How did the elements of life turn into elements of fear?
Who brought them here?
We did.
We used the air that prevented our lungs from collapsing, as a medium for poisoning.
We used the fire that prevented us from shivering, as a medium for demolishing.
We used the water that prevented us from wilting, as a medium for internal deformation.
And finally, we destroyed the Earth, the Earth that provided the sand grains for our creation.
Yes we, the humans, the wisest of all creation.
Then why weep when the elements turn against us?
Earthquakes, forest fires, floods and hurricanes,
Aren’t they all well deserved?
Justice is what we should fear,
The thought of nature’s Justice should bring down fountains of tears,
Because true Justice is what nature hasn’t endorsed yet.
Imagine.
If there was an earthquake for every time we littered the Earth,
If there was a flood for every toxin we dumped into the oceans,
If there was a hurricane for every fume released from a factory’s chimney,
If there was a bigger fire in turn for every explosion,
Where would we be now?
Would we exist?
These man-made disasters cannot be compared to those of nature.
So don’t cry, because this time isn’t the worst.
Quench that cigarette in your hands,
Eliminate your waste,
Discontinue your evil plans,
Because nature hasn’t yet showed you its own plans.