A cloud came down to talk to me
“We can sense a trouble up there
The air is thick and full of dirt
What you’re doing is just not fair
Having come down now I can see
Nothing else here but smoke
The air down here is so much worse
Do you think that it’s a joke?”
I merely shrugged my shoulders
And offered a meek reply
“What you say is absolutely true
It’s something I can’t deny
I’m terribly sorry for you my friend
That you must bear this pain
Is there something that I can do
To make this normal again?”
“Of course there is so much that you can do”
The cloud spoke with some disdain
“Quit your smoking first of all
Then quit your cars and trains
Have your factories all shut down
Quit dumping in the seas
Learn to appreciate the nature
Stop the felling of trees”
I could not help but laugh out loud
At all that he had to say
“What you say is absolutely fine
But there simply is no way
That we can do all that you want
Without having to bear a cost
Yes the air is not so clean
Something’s gained and something’s lost”
“Oh you speak just like a fool”
Uttered the dismayed cloud
“What I’m saying is not for myself
Hear me clear and loud
I can live with all this smoke
Oh that I can very well do
What I said was for your sake
The message was meant for you
“You drink the water, breathe the air
Make your dwellings on this land
Yet its worth you fail to see
Its price you don’t understand
Once you exploit beyond a point
This water, this air, this land
There will be no turning back
Humanity will see its end”
Warning thus the cloud went up
Back to from where it came
Leaving me with a lot to ponder
And a ton of guilt and shame
I mustered courage to look up
Saw the clouds turn grey
With hopelessness in my heart
Threw the cigarette away
Frank Solanki 