POEMS

Our lover and provider, Mother Nature

 Gives us beautiful trees, waterfalls, and glaciers

Supplies and gives us everything we could ever need

But we have to make sure not to ruin it with our greed

Environment full of life and beauty

Valuable to countless plants and animals

Exemplifies peace and growth

Radiant with foliage, wildlife, and sunshine

Gives shelter, beauty, and diversity

Lately, losing to man’s new things

Abused for economic uses

Defenseless to our machines and corporations

Endangered by our actions

Sad that no one cares

Sun shining on trees

Moss blowing in the warm breeze

All wildlife at ease

Tranquil waters flow

So soon they will no longer

Save the Everglades

Alligators, turtles, and fish, swimming by

There are birds flying high in the sky

If you take the time to stop and see

You can see the ecosystem in harmony 

CONSERVATION

Important beautiful

Protecting, cherishing, preserving

Nature wetlands trash buildings

Using, destroying, exploiting

Ugly harmful

DESTRUCTION

Non-Fiction

Friends of the Everglades

A story of Florida's greatest natural landmark

Breaking over the horizon, the sun had just begun to shine a warm, comforting light across the deep green trees and the calm, glistening water. A constant buzz of mosquitoes could be heard from all around like a calm, continuous song. It was a peaceful, beautiful, and unsuspecting morning in the Everglades. Then out of nowhere, Betty the Bird came bursting out through the trees, racing to go and play with her best friends down by the water.

“Guys! Guys! Wake up! Wake up! It’s time to go and play!” She chirped.

Alan the Alligator, Manny the Manatee, and Tonya the Turtle trudged out of their beds, rubbing their eyes, to meet their friend Betty at the edge of the swamp.

“Betty, it’s so early”, complained Alan the Alligator.

“Yeah, Betty. What are you doing awake already? The sun is barely even up”, whined Tonya the Turtle.

“It’s never too early to play!”, exclaimed Betty. “And it is the most beautiful day! We need to go on an adventure!”

“Ugh, okay” grumbled Manny the Manatee. “Where are we going?”

“Well, yesterday I heard some loud crashing and banging noises near my home tree”, stated Betty the Bird. “I was thinking that we could go check it out! Maybe it’s some new friends moving into the area!”

“Ooohh! That sounds exciting!”, squealed Tonya the Turtle. “Let’s go!”

The friends embarked on their adventure, flying and swimming to the place where Betty the Bird heard the strange noises. It took them a long while to get there, as Manny, Tonya, and Alan had to navigate their way through the murky waterways, which seemed to get darker and dirtier everyday.

As they reached a clearing, the four friends froze in their tracks. Something was terribly wrong. All of the trees had been slashed from their roots, and the ground was completely dry- not a drop of water in sight.

“Oh my goodness!”, exclaimed Betty the Bird.

“What has happened to our home?”, questioned Tonya the Turtle. They all stood still in complete shock.

“Wha-- wha-- what could have done this?”, wondered Alan the Alligator.

Yellow figures shimmered across the water, reflecting men and women dressed in hardhats working tirelessly. Many stood at the helm of a machine bigger than anything any of the animals had ever seen before.

"What is that thing?” Tonya squealed. A long, rusty arm swept out over the reeds and let out a shriek.

“I’ve never seen anything like it!” retorted Manny. The mystery machine ripped through the earth, grabbing chunks of soil and grass. The sound echoed across the plains of the Everglades, and the animals fell silent.

A look of terror contorted their faces, as thoughts raced through their heads- What is going to happen to our home? What about all of the animals that live here? How can we stop this? The humans continued to work, never acknowledging the alligator, manatee, turtle, and bird that hovered before them. “They don’t even know we are here” Betty the Bird squawked. “I - I’m afraid...even worse...they don’t care.” Alan replied back to his best friend.