A three-day livestream celebrating the
50th anniversary of Earth Day. Topics include
youth climate strikes, divesting from fossil fuels and more.
Local Poetry
On a related and local note, the annual Watauga County Student Poetry Contest's 1st place winner was Rien Freeman, an 11th grade student at Watauga High School. Thanks to Maryrose Carroll and Joseph Bathanti for their coordination. Her poem is below:
"Untitled" by Rien Freeman
I
remember the day that it came, swift and deadly, oh such a shame
It spread to the hills and it spread to the trees, it spread to the animals, even the bees
This thing, such a plague, that all creatures hate, would not stop, would not abate
It made the deer sick with death rates high, it made the bears sad with extinction nigh
The invasion put the forests and the plants to waste, took away the bugs and the beetles with haste
The weather got worse with a fit of a storm, icebergs perished as the Earth got warm
The world became ugly, as it browned a leaf, put out a haze and bleached a reef
Yet during this destruction happening there, some say it's fake and refused to care
Some say it's wrong with a frown and a glare, others will admit that it's not even there
It could make it hard to breathe, or give a headache, it could cause dizziness or a high heart rate!
Trees will fall, plants will die, birds will leave and we’ll ask why
It comes from cars, it comes from trains, it comes from factories, trucks and planes
Now we see as this plague comes through, that this plague all along, was just CO2.
