Dear Earth
First published in WRITE ON Magazine, Issue 53. A hard-hitting perspective on humans and the earth.
Sep 02 ● 2 min read ● WRITE ON Magazine
Dear Earth,
Before we go, we’d just like to say a few things.
When we first arrived, we were born into a world that (so it seemed) you had adapted solely for us. The plants were vibrant and gave us the food we required. We hunted other species too, sometimes to extinction. However, we were lucky. You forgave our many mistakes.
When things started to get interesting, you watched the ‘greatest minds of the times’ go by. You saw the wars, the peace, the discovery of things you placed right under our noses. We stuck flags into mountains, divided you against yourself many millions of times with dotted lines drawn on a map. We sailed around the world, killed, loved and felt pain. In other words, we were busy being human. You probably thought ‘what have I created?’ a fair few times. We don’t blame you.
Tomorrow, when we leave forever, a million memories will flash through our minds. The moment we set foot on the Moon. On Mars. The day we voyaged far into space and found other places to love. But did we appreciate you enough? You gave us life, you tolerated our pollution problems until the very end.
Tomorrow, when the rockets fire and we leave you behind, humanity will have entered a new phase of life. If any other civilisation ever colonizes this planet, we guess you’ll have a lot to tell them.
Most of all, we’re sorry. We’re sorry that out of paradise we created this wasteland. However, we promise one thing. Our best scientists have worked out that after a few thousand million years you’ll be back to where you were before we came.
If that’s any consolation. Will you be so trusting again?
Yours Sincerely,
Humanity