Earth Anthology - inspired by the WWF Love It or Lose It video

When English teacher Maggie Eaton from Guyana showed her students at St Augustine’s Priory in London the Love it or Lose it-video of WWF she was moved by it. And so were her students. As they were just studying love poetry from medieval times through to modern day, they adopted this video about the fragility of and love for Earth as a perfect topic for their poems. 
 
Eaton: "I think it is a testament to how much they care about this planet to use Earth as the subject for their own poetry compositions. Our students used the ‘Love It or Lose It’ video from WWF as a contemporary stimulus for their own love poems and this gave rise to the Love Poems for the Earth Anthology."

As the poems deserve a wide audience we share them here.  





A Love Poem for the Earth:
By Hannah
 
Her plentiful  beauty as endless as time,
From every exotic flower to a sunrise so sublime.
To the magnificent depths of a forest, where the trees lay
And an elephant splashing in the water ready to play.
To the moon swimming in a lagoon of stars,
Makes you wonder what an amazing world of ours.
 
The smooth, foamy turquoise waters that relentlessly roll,
Which hug the little fishes that are off on a stroll.
With the pearly sunlight gently weaving her way through
Oh earth we really do love you! 
 
To every delicate wasp  tiny as can be,
And the birds freely skimming the air, as high as we can see.
Venturing in your palettes of colours splattered over the sky,
While the  clouds like  shape shifters walk and pass us by .
 
From the breathtaking views on a desolate mountain top, 
Where does your beauty ever stop?
Your magical landscapes are beyond compare,
But, how we treat your wildlife is really unfair.
 
For every smile you paint across our face,
Yet, we still treat you badly with disgrace
But together we can give you endless care
To preserve your beauty which is everywhere.
 
To every little  plant and seedling sleeping in your soil, 
We should nurture you and not spoil.





A Love Poem for the Earth
By Helena
 
Our Mother Nature holds me and you and
them and she and he and you in her hand, 
until she sets us in the world to work 
and laugh and smile and love our
Beautiful world
 
But why do we hide our love?
we ruin our home and you ruin mine
And I ruin yours and we find ourselves
So deep in a world of hate and loathing
That we just forget about each other.
 
I want to live
In a place of equality and respect,
And also freedom and spring and summer,
And winter and autumn, 
So love it or lose it.




Personal Memories of Beautiful Earth
By Giorgia
 
Caressing the sandy shore are the waves,
Slow and steady, being watched by the sun.
Running barefoot on the countryside’s swathes,
Puts a smile on my face: it is so fun.
 
Blossoms blooming on the branches of trees.
Colours spreading on the vast, ample plains,
Feeling the wind on my face brings me ease,
Or waking with the sun or calming rain.
 
Chirping, twittering, singing birds at flight,
And grazing animals on the large fields,
Crickets, cicadas make music at night,
Gazing at stars, and the light they yield.
 
Our Earth is a beauty, so wonderful, alive.
Full of unique species- let’s help them thrive!





Woman of the Mount
By Megan
 
Her fingers, made rough by the years of wisdom,
brushed through Her gentle white waves.
 
Softly singing, Her sighs echoed around Her,
Into the depths of cracks and caves.
 
Her eyes, darkened by the sights She has seen, 
Gazed across winding rivers hidden in the depths of deep ravines. 
 
No bird could sing its melody here,
No animal could even be seen.
 
For a beast had come and taken the life away,
It’s hunger for more never fulfilled
 
Its ravenous heart filled with greed and hatred,
Into the mountains it had overspilled.
 
All that’s left in the winding valleys, 
Is the Woman of the Mount whistling Her tune.
 
A tune so mournful for the life that was lost, 
It makes anyone feel an impending doom.




My Home
By Maria
 
My home painted in blue and green,
My home that I depended on everything.
It was taken care of when reminded,
However time hurried in a flying carriage.
Defeated and bitter their faces looked 
As the carriage whizzed by.
One night t’was painted in red,
Bright furious flaming red,
So many people helping yet 
So many people just watching.  
The greens became dull.
The blues became lifeless.
The carriage parked beside,
That was that.
My home painted in blue and green. 





Mother Nature 
By Olivia
 
Her luscious meadows compliment the her tall red oaks
The warm rays of the sun cover our skin like a cloak 
 
The nature she provides, in which we should take pride,
Taking advantage, while she dies inside 
 
But she is our mother, she loves us so
Our love in return she might never know 
 
So before it's too late we shall recreate 
The love our mother portraits 
To Its great and natural state





Love It or Lose It
By Sakura
 
Puffy clouds are scattered in the vast sky.
Birds of different kinds fly way up high.
Teeming with life, the ocean is clear blue,
And while sailing, land comes into view.
 
In countryside meadows, flowers sway.
Collecting them would make a pretty bouquet.
Trees in the forest look over the ground 
And many different animals are found.
 
Suddenly, the sky turned grey and ashy
All because of human activity.
The sea turned into a giant dumpster.
Forests and fields disappeared altogether.
 
So, we need to take care of the earth,
To give love and attention it deserves.
We need to treasure all that if left here
And make sure nothing else disappears.





Earth
By Thanuja
 
Earth may be created in just six days,
But shining on us everyday are the sun’s rays
Giving us joy, hope and a smile on our faces,
We cannot fail to admire the greenery in places
It may not be pristine but it is serene,
With tons of sea creatures wandering in their marine
It may not be pure but it is lush,
As fragile flowers and towering trees blush
The ruddy sunset waning slow,
Watches me from the countryside below
The full moon’s glow and the sun’s shine,
Makes me spiritually blind
Earth is a gift to us from God,
So we shall praise and protect it!





Earth Cycle
By Mana
 
You, who were still young,
Increased beauty day by day.
Creatures settled in,
And gently protected you.
One day, a creature called a human
Was created by God.
At first, Humans, like other creatures,
Protected you.
However, humans were a little different from others,
They were very smart.
They have revealed your secrets one after another.
Some of them misunderstood you as their possession,
And they fought over your land.
They developed various things,
And they manipulated you.
You, who were taken by humans,
Declined day by day.
Creatures were gone.
And nobody protected you.
One day, humans realised their mistakes.
They drowned in the sea of regret.
They were wrapped in deep sorrow.
However, humans realised
That only humans have destroyed you,
And only humans can heal you.
You, who are now released by humans,
Regains beauty day by day,
As when you were young.
Creatures are back,
And everybody protects you.
A forest full of green,
The clear blue sea and sky,
White cliffs and black volcanos.
The beautiful voice of insects echoes,
And a flock of swans whirls.
Every day, we are amazed at your appearance that we do not know,
And you teach us important things.





Renew
By May
 
Where you try to give us sunlight 
In return we give you black poisonous clouds
That choke the monkeys and oak trees. 
We try to help them survive the battle, but don't always succeed. 
 
The plants that grow in the fields
Give us the full nourishment we need 
For the plants we need a shield
Like a baby, they start as a seed
 
As children we don't realise 
That as we laugh we separate the flower from its source of life
Tearing it from its roots and depriving it from living anymore
The last petal plucked from its stem, no life is left. 
 
We don't see this but, 
Day by day the earth is slowly starting to cripple
Every piece of plastic we drop 
It makes a difference. 
 
All you need to do is pick up what you drop 
And reuse, recycle, reduce 



 
Open Your Eyes:
By Mia
 
Open your eyes,
See what’s all around,
Look up and down from the nature, to animals, to the ground, 
Be respectful to everything even the trees have feelings, 
Open your eyes and live!
 
Open your eyes, 
Have fun with your life,
Have fun with that animal that makes you laugh,
Let yourself drown in laughter,
Open your eyes and laugh!
 
Open your eyes,
Smile at someone new,
Laugh with someone new,
Laugh as if it’s a button you can’t switch off,
Enjoy the scenery of the earth like its your last day with someone new, 
Open your eyes and love!
 
Open your eyes,
Take in the life around you,
Don’t take people for granted,
Make your life rain with positivity, 
Our earth is melting away but we can save it in time,
Life is all about risk-taking,
 So open your eyes and live, laugh, love!