The Agenda

The town hall was filled to capacity. Although invitations had gone out weeks ago, they were not expecting a mammoth number. The guest speaker was invited to the podium. His speech was the last item on the list. The icing on the cake. Looking at the audience, he could see anxiety on their faces. He could feel the tension in the atmosphere. He cleared his throat.

“Good day ladies and gentlemen,” he said.

He paused for a while and continued, “It’s my honest pleasure to have a capacity crowd grace this occasion. I have a piece I would like to read to you. It is titled, ‘Clarion Call”. 

They cry for help,
They are at our mercies.
We’ve killed and maimed,
We’ve soiled
pristine beauty.
We’ve hunted to extinction,
We’ve exploited to
a remnant few,
We’ve rent the
forest bare,
We’ve tuned down their
numbers in
exponential sequence.
They go in search of
food and substance,
They come back to meet
a home ripped bare.
The flowing bodies have
lost their splendour,
Their inhabitants cut
down in large quantities.
The flora and fauna are in
need of loving
tender care.
Activities that hamper the
ecosystem should be
reduced to the barest,
The atmosphere kept
free and clean.
As we decorate our
homes in
dazzling colours,
Let’s not rid nature
of its beauty.
For rich colourful display,
Nature brings to the fore,
And a bulwark it is to us.

“Thank you,” he said with a trembling voice.

He bowed and left the podium. There was grave silence. The people were stuck to their seats for some minutes. Some left the hall with tears. The majority of them became ambassadors of change. Harbingers of a new world.