On October 25, 2019, Sunil Bagaria, Chairman of ISRI’s Plastics Division held a reception in his home for two New Jersey elected officials. Attendees numbered about 50.
As part of the reception Mr. Bagaria organized a “Town Hall” on the environment to discuss with the elected leaders recycling and its needs, especially from a plastics perspective. During the “Town Hall” ninth-grader Sarah Gupta stood before the audience of adults and announced that she had written a poem for the occasion. With great poise, Miss Gupta recited her poem. The poem follows:
Wishing for the Past
By Sarah Gupta
I played in the ocean,
when I was a child.
As it seemed so daring and wild.
Standing by the edge
and watching the waves pass through my toes,
fantasizing of the days not so long ago.
Surrounded by the clear glistening waters,
fish filling the streams.
Only if these weren’t dreams.
Soaring through the great oceans, > back when turtles roamed free.
Wishing this was still how it could be.
Today,
all around our planet,
we continue to take what we have for granted.
Even with the assistance
from the greatest minds’ contributions,
the oceans continue to suffer from pollution
Time continues
and plastic floods the oceans,
with no one making any motions.
We claim we love and care for our earth.
But we harm it everyday
and still proceed to betray.
What happened to our love for our home?
This pollution trend,
is bound to cause the earth to end.
Following the recitation of her poem, Miss Gupta said that she appreciated the opportunity to present her poem in front of a group of adults and two elected officials. She continued, “I was intrigued to witness the exercise in democracy.” Importantly, Miss Gupta also said that she will “ensure that [her] generation will continue to care for our planet, despite the obstacles.” It doesn’t get better than that, does it?
SPAN