Maria Zambon
Critical Theory
EN 3695
Nicholas Helms
5.9.24
Manifesto de Terra
Lava cooled,
Oceans bubbled,
Microbes wiggled,
Algae washed ashore.
The vegetation grew trees
and the trees became forests
and the forests swathed the earth
like a blanket.
The forests grew and died
to the rhythm of new life,
humming in the sun
and the storm.
Primates walked
and learned to talk.
They sharpened sticks
and shed their hair.
They listened well to the tune
and danced in time,
thanking the earth
for what it gave them.
The plants and animals
grew and died
to support the citizens
in a sustainable cycle.
Until there were more places,
and people,
and groups,
and rulers.
The resources started to go to one
instead of the masses,
making the earth a commodity,[1]
not a correspondent.
Everything culminates.
The resources go to a small ruling class
instead of the workers
and the machines are too loud to hear the earth any longer.
Greedy people,
heartless people,
bomb the earth
and let it die.[2]
Where do we go
when the rain is pouring,
the heat scorches,
and the trees bloom too late?
Everything looks doomed,
but our hope must not fade.
Let it grow like ivy
and overtake.
Our community must be as strong
as roots in the ground
and our voices
as loud and beautiful as birdsong.
[1] After the agricultural revolution, the Earth’s resources became for profit instead of necessity.
[2] Atomic Bombs kill thousands of animals and irradiate the surrounding area for years after (Westing 1981).
Author’s Note: This poem is an ode to history, a love letter to earth, and a hate letter to capitalism and its destruction of civilization and the environment. I wanted to go through a timeline of earth, human, and societal evolution, and showcase how interconnected humans and the Earth are and how our economic systems and lack of sustainable choices affect the environment. I kept it neat in four-line stanzas, and it doesn’t have a cohesive rhythm, but it’s more about the message and I hope it flows accurately. This poem is supposed to encourage the reader to think about the world and their place in it, and what they can do to make it a better place. This timeline is interesting, but it is sad to see how humanity’s priorities have shifted. This poem started as a personal one, but I saw its potential as critical theory material because of its themes. Nature and the critique of capitalism are important to me, as demonstrated by my midterm essay.
The effects of climate change have been clearly visible to me lately. Endlessly rainy summers, floods in Brazil, uninhabitable heat in southern Asia. The source of this, and many other sources of human and environmental suffering, must be called out. We must see that humans and nature are parallel. There is a great case for prioritizing celestial bodies over profit margins.
Capitalism, ironically, grew from the earth from supposed human innovation. Greedy people use the earth against itself, taking the resources and using them to release smog and trash, not to mention also crushing the spirits and bodies of the workers. The earth is made for the many and is here to provide for us, but not at the rate at which capitalism demands from it. Nature is rebirth and natural sustainability, and greed is death and devastation.
Jamaica Kincaid’s “A Small Place” is about secondary colonialism and tourism, but can also be seen through an environmental lens. Colonialism is the act of the land being taken over for others to use, and tourism is traveling somewhere to partake in the land that has been hypercapitalized. It is someone else’s home and it is being used to maximize profits. It also showcases how the settlers who made this into a tourist destination have neglected the people and the buildings that came before, as seen by the dilapidated library. Colonists do not respect the land that isn’t theirs, may not even respect land that IS theirs. because it’s usually white people, and I feel as though it isn’t in our culture to love nature as if it is an extension of ourselves. And that is a shame.
Not only are the horrors in Gaza, Palestine a humanitarian issue, but an environmental one. To nobody’s surprise, excessive bombing, the burning of olive trees, and contaminated water are not healthy for the world. As I said, settlers are disrespecting the land. Additionally, like Antigua in Kincaid’s narrative, Gaza is viewed as prime real estate for a vacation destination. An ad made with AI ran on Hulu about it. This feels like a parody. Love the land, the Earth is begging. Love humanity, humans are begging.
Works Cited
“Come Visit Gaza!”, YouTube, uploaded by, !מערך ההסברה הלאומי – יחד ננצח,
21 January 2024, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJaxKQrHE6U&pp=ygUMaHVsdSBhZCBnYXph
.
Hall, N., Kirschenbaum, A., & Michel, D. (January 12, 2024). The siege of gaza’s water. CSIS. https://www.csis.org/analysis/siege-gazas-water#:~:text=About%2090%20percent%20of%20Gaza’s,and%20sewage%20and%20chemical%20infiltration.
Kincaid, J. (1988). A Small Place. Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Olivier, B. (2005). Nature, Capitalism, and the Future of Humankind. Port Elizabeth; Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
Pedrazzi, C. S., (2023, October 11). In the West Bank, Israeli settlers are burning Palestinians’ olive trees. Jacobin. https://jacobin.com/2023/11/west-bank-israeli-settlers-palestinian-olive-trees-violence-occupation
PETERS, E. “Feudalism.” New Catholic Encyclopedia, 2nd ed., vol. 5, Gale, 2003, pp. 701-706. Gale eBooks, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3407704074/GVRL?u=plysc_main&sid=bookmark-GVRL&xid=c8a91649. Accessed 7 May 2024.
Savarese, M., & PESSOA, G. S. (2024, May 9). Southern Brazil is still reeling from massive flooding as it faces risk from new storms. AP News. https://apnews.com/article/brazil-porto-alegre-floods-rio-grande-do-sul-6daa5788e5cf6ec9a94cb3ea30fa6b18
Westing, A. (1981). Environmental Impact of Nuclear Warfare. Cambridge; Cambridge University Press.
Sprockets and Springes 