Lyrics: Present, Earth, Future
Let me tell you a story.
A story about three little children.
Their names were Present, Earth, and Future.
Present was a kind and true-hearted child,
His mind filled with dreams and ambitions quite wild.
Present saw time machines and flying cars,
And he worked hard to achieve it all.
Present lived in the age of technological advancement.
Computers becoming faster, smarter, and more efficient.
In fact, these computers were what helped Present see,
What he could be and achieve,
But Present… He was ignorant.
Present was drowned in waves of applause and gratitude,
Worrying only about the piles of money leading to,
More fame, more cash, more gain.
Eyes covered in sunglasses that instead of blocking out UV light,
Allowed only sources of money to come into sight,
Standing on a pedestal high above anybody else,
His ego soaring and his selfishness even higher.
Unable to see the damage being done to the creatures down below or in the sea.
Mind clouded with big companies and even bigger machines,
Demolishing forests and polluting the marines.
Carbon emissions from these monsters affect the air,
It leads to ocean acidification don’t you care?
Cause if you don’t,
We got until the end of the century before 150% of the ocean’s surface rises in pH,
I don’t mean pH as in phD after getting 150% on your exam.
I mean the amount of death we’ll experience in our oceans,
Until mankind has decided to put 150% of their time,
Into fixing this world-scale crime.
Because before that time,
We’ll hurt.
We’ll hurt but Present won’t see,
As Present is far too deep in finding ways to make more money,
And advancing technology,
Now don’t tell me it was worth it.
Earth.
Earth was like a mother.
She nurtured the children of others as though they were her own.
Earth planted seeds in the ground and circled around to make sure they were safe,
And the plants grew.
They grew because Earth knew,
That if she protected life as it was,
Allowed blossoms to bud and bees to fly free,
Gave homes to creatures in the sea,
From fish to whales,
From sea urchins to sea snails,
Earth gave them food,
She gave them a place to grow and a place to go if they needed to move.
Eagles soar in the blue skies with the warmth of sun glaring down on its eyes.
Turtles zip through the clear oceans,
Earth bore all the emotions,
From despair to glee,
All animals and plants could see,
That Earth suffered if they did.
Earth celebrated if they did.
Earth stood with every creature and every plant no matter how tough the ride got.
They could see that Earth was their home,
Their friend, their mother, their queen.
But Present,
Present couldn’t see.
Present’s eyes were fixed only on money like racehorses with blinds covering the sides of their heads,
And that was EXACTLY what Present was.
Running straight ahead without awareness of the dead,
The dead trees, the dead plants, the dead you, the dead me.
Peripheral vision blocked by towering buildings with ads all over,.
Animals without fur because jackets and rugs are more important.
AS IF we live in the arctic and depend on our fur to keep us alive,
A fashion statement making us look better but taking away their lives.
Rhinos without horns and baby animals torn apart from their mothers,
For souvenirs and a reason for us to remember?!
All my sisters and brothers,
Are you proud?
Are you proud we’ve turn every cloud dark grey and left mounds of trash in lakes.
The ones we used to call great,
But now we call polluted,
Because of our insufficiency to preserve the treasure of life we have on this planet.
And I can’t fathom how we can stand it,
Temperatures rising,
Sea levels climbing,
Sun shining and UV rays demining the purpose of the ozone layer.
Cause what was once a protective layer is now a result of we’ll fix it later,
That’s what we said for it all.
And now we have a retracting Niagara Falls,
And populations of animals falling even greater
Carcinogenic substances all through the air,
But it isn’t only until your mom or dad gets cancer is when you care.
This planet is one thing we all share.
Birds and mice and ferns and germs,
We all consume what we need,
Fueling not our stomachs but instead our greed.
Because we are hardwired from the moment we’re born to constantly want more.
We’ll rise to the top even if it means pushing others down to the floor.
We’re busy toying with Intel iCore and Playstation 4s,
When what we should be reprogramming is our core we call the heart.
Because without heart, we cannot begin to embark on a journey we have years or even decades to reach.
A point where man understands the pain plants and animals feel.
A point where Present embraces Earth and begins to heal,
The wounds it gave of broken bones like cut down trees and scrapes like dried up lakes.
It begins in the heart and should be a “will” not a “would”,
A point where Future can see what Present once could.
A story about three little children.
Their names were Present, Earth, and Future.
Present was a kind and true-hearted child,
His mind filled with dreams and ambitions quite wild.
Present saw time machines and flying cars,
And he worked hard to achieve it all.
Present lived in the age of technological advancement.
Computers becoming faster, smarter, and more efficient.
In fact, these computers were what helped Present see,
What he could be and achieve,
But Present… He was ignorant.
Present was drowned in waves of applause and gratitude,
Worrying only about the piles of money leading to,
More fame, more cash, more gain.
Eyes covered in sunglasses that instead of blocking out UV light,
Allowed only sources of money to come into sight,
Standing on a pedestal high above anybody else,
His ego soaring and his selfishness even higher.
Unable to see the damage being done to the creatures down below or in the sea.
Mind clouded with big companies and even bigger machines,
Demolishing forests and polluting the marines.
Carbon emissions from these monsters affect the air,
It leads to ocean acidification don’t you care?
Cause if you don’t,
We got until the end of the century before 150% of the ocean’s surface rises in pH,
I don’t mean pH as in phD after getting 150% on your exam.
I mean the amount of death we’ll experience in our oceans,
Until mankind has decided to put 150% of their time,
Into fixing this world-scale crime.
Because before that time,
We’ll hurt.
We’ll hurt but Present won’t see,
As Present is far too deep in finding ways to make more money,
And advancing technology,
Now don’t tell me it was worth it.
Earth.
Earth was like a mother.
She nurtured the children of others as though they were her own.
Earth planted seeds in the ground and circled around to make sure they were safe,
And the plants grew.
They grew because Earth knew,
That if she protected life as it was,
Allowed blossoms to bud and bees to fly free,
Gave homes to creatures in the sea,
From fish to whales,
From sea urchins to sea snails,
Earth gave them food,
She gave them a place to grow and a place to go if they needed to move.
Eagles soar in the blue skies with the warmth of sun glaring down on its eyes.
Turtles zip through the clear oceans,
Earth bore all the emotions,
From despair to glee,
All animals and plants could see,
That Earth suffered if they did.
Earth celebrated if they did.
Earth stood with every creature and every plant no matter how tough the ride got.
They could see that Earth was their home,
Their friend, their mother, their queen.
But Present,
Present couldn’t see.
Present’s eyes were fixed only on money like racehorses with blinds covering the sides of their heads,
And that was EXACTLY what Present was.
Running straight ahead without awareness of the dead,
The dead trees, the dead plants, the dead you, the dead me.
Peripheral vision blocked by towering buildings with ads all over,.
Animals without fur because jackets and rugs are more important.
AS IF we live in the arctic and depend on our fur to keep us alive,
A fashion statement making us look better but taking away their lives.
Rhinos without horns and baby animals torn apart from their mothers,
For souvenirs and a reason for us to remember?!
All my sisters and brothers,
Are you proud?
Are you proud we’ve turn every cloud dark grey and left mounds of trash in lakes.
The ones we used to call great,
But now we call polluted,
Because of our insufficiency to preserve the treasure of life we have on this planet.
And I can’t fathom how we can stand it,
Temperatures rising,
Sea levels climbing,
Sun shining and UV rays demining the purpose of the ozone layer.
Cause what was once a protective layer is now a result of we’ll fix it later,
That’s what we said for it all.
And now we have a retracting Niagara Falls,
And populations of animals falling even greater
Carcinogenic substances all through the air,
But it isn’t only until your mom or dad gets cancer is when you care.
This planet is one thing we all share.
Birds and mice and ferns and germs,
We all consume what we need,
Fueling not our stomachs but instead our greed.
Because we are hardwired from the moment we’re born to constantly want more.
We’ll rise to the top even if it means pushing others down to the floor.
We’re busy toying with Intel iCore and Playstation 4s,
When what we should be reprogramming is our core we call the heart.
Because without heart, we cannot begin to embark on a journey we have years or even decades to reach.
A point where man understands the pain plants and animals feel.
A point where Present embraces Earth and begins to heal,
The wounds it gave of broken bones like cut down trees and scrapes like dried up lakes.
It begins in the heart and should be a “will” not a “would”,
A point where Future can see what Present once could.
An Excerpt from Martin, the poet and author
The piece, "Present, Earth, Future", is a powerful piece that depicts the environmental issues occurring across the world. Presented in a story-like format, this piece allows the audience to enter a distopicly described environment where irresponsible action and initiative has taken it's toll on Earth. Though it is only a piece of poetic literature, the ideology behind this piece isn't far from reality - that is, if humanity continues down it's harmful path.